Kenny Florian is not Georges St. Pierre. He found that out Saturday night in Philadelphia. KenFlo tried to emply similar tactics to those that worked for GSP at UFC 94. It wasn’t going to happen at 155 pounds. Florian constantly pressed Penn against the cage, trying to wear down the UFC lightweight champ. But all he did was get the worst of the standup each time they separated.
Florian never came close to threatening a takedown. Penn took the first three rounds with great takedown defense and the more effective striking. In the fourth, Florian let his guard down and was taken down. That’s when Penn’s excellent jiu-jitsu went on display. The Hawaiian quickly worked to a dominant position, eventually got Florian’s back and choked him for the submission at 3:54 of the fourth round to retain his title in the main event at UFC 101.
Cagewriter’s coverage of UFC 101 continues with the only live postfight show from the Wachovia Center starting at 1:30 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Listen here.
