Las Vegas, NV — PFL analyst and co-host of the Anik & Florian podcast Kenny Florian is a former multi-time, multi-weight class UFC title challenger.
He’s also going to have a bird’s eye view throughout the PFL’s acquisition of Bellator MMA, which was announced late last year. Ahead of the 15th Annual World MMA Awards in Las Vegas, Florian announced just what the merger meant.
“I think it’s a huge moment for the sport. I think any time you’re able to grow the roster in that manner and get world class fighters, it’s a great thing for the sport,” stated Florian. “I think any time there’s competition there, I think it elevates everybody involved. I think for the Bellator and PFL fighters, they’re always looking to see how they test themselves against other people who are considered the best in the sport, so I think it adds value there.”
“I think it’s going to allow for the PFL to put on a lot of the fights that people have been wanting to see for a long time.”
That last statement might be most important of all. For a while now, the growing PFL, with a home on ESPN, has been punching up. But it lacked the roster depth of Bellator or the UFC, despite a homegrown star in Kayla Harrison. Harrison had long been suggested for a crossover fight with Cris Cyborg, that fight is now a distinct possibility (another would be PFL double-champ Larissa Pacheco versus Cyborg). And the depth issue is now far less of a concern.
As for Florian, he continues to be heard on PFL broadcasts and his own podcast alongside UFC play-by-play man Jon Anik.
“I think both of us add a very different perspective to the sport mostly,” he said of the show, and his work alongside Anik. “So I think seeing it from Jon’s eye, he’s very astute, he’s been around the game such a long time now. And he also gets such great insight into how the fighters come out, and the fight week information, how’s they’re feeling, how they’re looking, all that stuff. And me with my experience. I think we both just do our best to try to explain the sport in the best way possible, have awesome guests, have a fun time doing it.”
Watch our full interview with Kenny Florian above.
