Aug-3-2008
The Florian Report – Fight Week
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Womens G Velour Suit - Kelly Green
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By Kenny Florian
I’m so used to fight week now that it’s kinda just waiting to weigh-in for me. You definitely get those bad intentions and the focus and intensity when you land in the fight city. I’m a lot more quiet, and I like my time alone. I like to focus on the fight or just hang out with the team members. I don’t like talking to anybody outside of the fight team and I kinda like to separate myself from everything that’s not fight-related. It’s my time to meditate. Be at peace with not eating and my time to prepare mentally for the road ahead and the fight.
The demands for my time around this fight have been great. In the beginning there wasn’t one interview that I’d turn down. But at this point, I literally don’t have the time, and I think the great competitors are able to really focus on the fight itself and deal with all the distractions better than the other ones. We all know that we need to be well-rounded, we all need to be good with our nutrition and our strength and conditioning, but there are a lot of guys out there who don’t know how to deal with being out of the ring – whether it’s partying or dealing with the media, doing too much press, too much traveling, or not enough, or saying the wrong things. There’s a lot to deal with and a lot of people don’t realize how much we do outside of the fight, and you have to be real careful with that and balance everything really well. I think about how much I have to do and I can only imagine the players on the Red Sox and Yankees and how many demands they have from the media and how much they really have to do off the field. So for us, it can get busy, but it’s worse in other places and I look to other professional athletes as an example of what I need to be doing and how to manage it all.
I think what it comes down to is that I enjoy this all too much to screw it all up. Plus, my family and friends keep me very grounded. I’ll always be the same guy I was when I started doing this and I think that anytime you start believing your own hype, or even the hype about other fighters, you’re in trouble. It’s gonna mess with your head and you’re gonna forget about why you’re doing this. I train as hard as I do because I know I can lose, and that’s the key. If anything, I listen to the bad things the critics say about me, and not the good things. I’m always critical, always grounded, and I always try to remember that this can all go away really quickly and you’ve got to take advantage of it while you can. I played Division I soccer and I remember how I went from loving the sport to not liking it very quickly with a bad coach or a bad experience. And I just want to enjoy this as much as I can for as long as I can.
On Thursday at the press conference, I’ll be seeing Roger for the first time before our fight and it’s going to be interesting. I remember the last time we saw each other we were very friendly, and I told him that the next time we see each other we probably won’t be hanging out as much or talking very much, so I’m gonna wish you good luck right now. I really don’t know how I’m gonna react. Of course I’m gonna keep it very professional, but once I get to Minneapolis, it’s all business. I’m going to give him a handshake if he’s up for it, and that’s it. I’m not there to play around. He’s the enemy as soon as I land.
For more information on Kenny Florian, please visit www.kennyflorian.com
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