Florian leaves DellaGrotte for the 'smartest coach' in the biz

[Clark Kent]

12-09-2009 12:50 PM:

A fighter is only as good as the people surrounding him. Is that really true with mixed martial artists? How much credit do guys like Greg Jackson, Shawn Tompkins and Mark DellaGrotte deserve? The jury still out but it's clear most of the fighter believe a good trainer can change everything. Kenny Florian was handled easily by B.J. Penn in his shot at lightweight title back in August and thought it was time for a chance so he's dumped DellaGrotte in favor of rising star trainer Firas Zahabi. Zahabi is the guy mostly credited with turning Georges St, Pierre into what he is:

"Firas has been an amazing addition to the team," Florian told Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press. "He's a guy who I believe is the smartest coach in mixed martial arts today. And I think everybody's at least a couple of years behind what Firas is doing with his team."

​

The other bonus is getting work with St. Pierre:

"I look at Georges and how hard he trains, it's amazing to me," said Florian. "And having the opportunity to work with Georges himself, I work with him every single day that I'm in Montreal, he's such a huge help and gives me so much confidence when we're training. I've learned so much from Georges, I've learned so much from all the guys up there."

​

People rave about GSP's body and conditioning so Florian (11-4, 9-3 UFC) is also working with his strength coach Montreal's Jon Chaimberg:

"My body definitely has changed. I definitely am at my biggest and at my leanest. I feel very, very strong. I feel I'm at my quickest, and I'm in tremendous shape right now."

​

There is a little twist for Florian in this UFC 107 fight against Clay Guida. Jackson, who works with Zahabi during GSP camps and fights, is training and cornering Guida (25-10, 5-4 UFC). It'll be interesting to see what Jackson brings to the table with Guida, who is an extremely effective one-dimensional fighter with his takedowns.

Florian, 33, definitely needed some help with his gameplanning and striking after seeing the Penn fight. His approach of trying to wear down and takedown Penn over the course of the first three rounds, completely backfired. It's a pretty bold move to dump DellaGrotte, who Florian worked with from the start of his UFC career.



More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.