kenny florian

It was announced last night that Kenny Florian has now officially retired from competing in professional mixed martial arts.

News was broke by Florian himself.

A contestant on the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Florian remarkably competed in the middleweight division – making it all the way to the final, only to be defeated by Diego Sanchez. Always oversized but never out-skilled, “Ken-Flo” defeated a whole plethora of opponents inside the octagon, including Clay Guida, Takanori Gomi, Joe Lauzon, Joe Stevenson and Roger Huerta.

He was last seen in October, where he was defeated by Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title.

“It was something I’ve been thinking about since November. And it probably wasn’t until the last couple months where I really saw it as a viable option. When you’ve fought as long as I have and trained as long as I have, you become what you do, and that’s all you know,” he said.

“It’s tough to do anything else, but in the end, I have so many things going on, from my gym back in Boston to the commentary and all that stuff, that I’m so lucky that I have all these other things in my life and I can still be a part of the sport that I love.”

Florian will now continue his television work for the UFC and we wish him the best of luck for the future.

By Mike Clarke (@fightlounge)