Kenny Florian excited to fight Gomi

Ahead of his UFC Fight Night 21 bout with Japanese superstar Tankanori Gomi, Kenny "Kenflo" Florian spoke about his upcoming war with his opponent:

“I think it’s a huge treat for the hardcore fans who’ve been following this sport for awhile.  It’s always surprising to have newer fans who ask me who I’m fighting and I say ‘Takanori Gomi’ and they say ‘Who is that?’ And I’m like, ‘You haven’t been following this sport, obviously.’”

“I’ve watched him fight for a long time and I think as fighters we all want to fight the best, but I never thought it would happen, I never thought that Gomi would come over to the UFC. I think it shows how he’s looking for a big challenge in his career right now and that’s exciting. And it shows the commitment of the UFC to constantly look for the best fighters in the world.”

“This guy is one of the best so I’m very excited that that the fight is here and I’m just looking forward to it, I’m just really, really excited to get a chance to test my skills against a guy like him. Takinori Gomi has been one of the best fighters in the lightweight division for many years.  I’m a big fan of PRIDE and Gomi has been at the top of food chain for a long time.”

“Gomi is very, very fast.  He has knock out power in both of his hands and I think you always have to prepare for the worst case scenario. That’s something I’ve been doing, I’ve been able to train with some very experienced and dangerous strikers in my sparring and I feel I’ll be prepared for that… I’m prepared to go all 15 minutes standing if I need to; I think it will be a great fight.”

Following UFN 21, the 11th Series of the Ultimate Fighter begins the next night.