Kenny Florian says Diego Sanchez can’t finish fights at lightweight: “Never looked great at 155″

Published on: 23rd January, 2010

Kenny Florian says Diego Sanchez can't finish fights at lightweight: "Never looked great at 155"   | read this item

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When Diego Sanchez dropped to the lightweight division last year he made his debut against Joe Stevenson at UFC 95, defeating him by decision. Shortly after the fight Kenny Florian was booked for a shot against BJ Penn for the lightweight title.

Diego took exception to Florian’s title shot since he once defeated him in the Ultimate Fighter season 1 Finale. Diego questioned the UFC’s decision, but eventually earned his own. He also constantly pointed out that he would do it again if they ever met again.

In a interview with CagePotato.com Florian spoke and about Sanchez’s loss to BJ Penn for the lightweight title. He also did not rule out a rematch against Sanchez in the future.

“Yeah, I would have fought him. Definitely. Diego is still a good fighter and there’s no shame in losing to a guy like BJ Penn. We are both different fighters from the first time we fought and of course I’d love a rematch with Diego. Who knows? Maybe it’s stil something that could happen, you know? Maybe we could meet at a catch weight or maybe we could do it at 155. I think Diego wants big fights. I still see this as a viable option in the future.”

Florian was then reminded of how much Sanchez talked about him last year when he moved down to the lightweight division.

“The skill level at 155lbs is the best in the UFC, if you look across the board, in terms of well-rounded fighters. You are not going to come in to the UFC 155 division and start finishing guys right away. People see me doing it and what do they think I’m doing, just lying around not training? I train my ass off every single day to be able to do that and it’s not an easy thing to be able to finish guys at 155. That’s something I really pride myself on. The only guys, I think, at 155 that are consistently finishing people are me and BJ Penn.

I think that takes a special skill to be able to do that. Not everybody can do that, I don’t promise to be able to do that all the time but that’s the way I fight and that’s the way I train to fight Diego thought he was going to be able to go out there and just smash people at 155. Not going to happen, Diego. The skill level is too good out there. You have to be very, very well rounded. He thought what he was able to do at 170, he was going to do even better at 155 and that’s just not the case. It just shows me the talent that is out there at 155. In my opinion, Diego just never looked great at 155.”

Looks like Diego may still have some unfinished business at lightweight before making the move back to the welterweight division again.

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