Exclusive: Kenny Florian confident about making cut to UFC 145 division

Kenny Florian (13-5) has fought for the UFC lightweight title on two occasions, but after a knee injury forced him to pull out of a Jan. 22 bout against fellow contender Evan Dunham, he eventually decided to make the drop to featherweight.

He has his sights set on a showdown with 145-pound champion Jose Aldo, who turned down a fight with Florian at 155 when it looked as if Aldo might’ve cleared through the featherweight class. Florian told ProMMAnow.com about his reasons for making the cut and also explained that he’s confident he’ll make weight but doesn’t plan on doing a test cut.

“I haven’t done a test cut and I don’t plan on doing one,” Florian said. “I’m pretty confident I’m going to make it.

“I didn’t really think about [changing weight classes] until the fight against Aldo was proposed at 155 and Jose didn’t take the fight. But I started thinking about it and people were telling me I could be able to get down to 145. I spoke to a few nutritionists that confirmed it and then made my decision based on that.”

With his duties serving as a co-host on ESPN’s MMA Live, Florian has a busy schedule these days. Nevertheless, he said that he’s able to dedicate more than enough time to training.

“No, not at all,” Florian said when asked if his television responsibilities make it harder to keep up with his fighting schedule. “Training always comes first. If I’m not able to train, I won’t commit to certain things. Plus, I always take at least a month and a half off [from the show] before fights.”

Florian is expected to recover from his injury and return to action sometime this summer.