'Power struggle' forces Kenny Florian and Mark Dellagrotte to amicably part ways

by MMAmania.com on Sep 19, 2009 10:51 AM EDT

Quoteworthy:

"There are no hard feelings. Me and Kenny have been good friends for a long, long time. We did good thing together. I think this is a good decision for both of us. I think he is going to do well, I think the people he is going with are some of the best in the world. It wasn’t a bad break or anything like that, it was just a mutual decision we made in order for us both to move forward. It was necessary for Kenny to move forward with his career and me to move forward as a coach.... I have to stress that I have nothing negative to say towards Kenny or his brother. Its not his brother’s fault, it’s not my fault, it's just one of things that happens in sports like this. There has been a constant ‘power struggle’ between me and his brother Keith. We never really got along -- which is not anybody’s fault, some work well together and some don’t. We worked well together at first but over the last few camps and fights we put together, there were differences and I am just the type of guy that if I can’t steer the ship, if I can’t be the captain, I would prefer not to be onboard.... I am a good leader, a good general, and I think my resume shows that. When I start to feel like my decisions aren’t important or not being taken seriously, it kind of detaches me from the situation. And if cant be really in control and really responsible for the outcome of the fight, I don’t want to be part of it any more.... It is going to be invigorating for Kenny to go and see new trainers, learn new tricks. I am a true teacher of the martial arts and a true friend to Kenny so I encourage him to move on to bigger and better things. Hopefully he is productive and does well from here. I wish him nothing but the best."

Marc Dellagrotte of Sityodtong U.S.A. Muay Thai and Martial Martial Arts -- the long-time trainer for two-time former number one lightweight contender, Kenny Florian -- talks about the recent rift that caused the Boston-area pair to go their separate ways. Florian is coming off a submission loss to BJ Penn, which marked the second time he has competed for a world title and came up short. It appears that both parties now feel Florian is better off switching up his training regimen to increase his chances of winning in the future. In fact, Florian has already enlisted the services of Firas Zahabi -- the trainer perhaps most well known for his work UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre -- at Tristar in Canada. He'll need all the help he can get to prepare for his next match against the hard-charging Clay Guida at UFC 107 on Dec. 12. "The Carpenter" has also switched up his training, calling on MMA mastermind Greg Jackson to improve his skills prior to fight night in Memphis. How much impact these decisions will have on their respective performances remains to be seen ... care to make a few predictions?

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Comments

Kenny’s brother is an a$$, has the voice of a 12 year old computer nerd!.. He thinks too much, they thought Kenny was GSP and fell in love with a horrible strategy! Kenny could have kicked BJ to death, instead of that he went in to the clinch with his tiny shrimpy body

by RoBerto on Sep 19, 2009 12:15 PM EDT reply actions

Kenny tried kicks in the opening seconds and got rocked and dropped on the 2nd kick thrown . . . what are you talking about? he couldnt take penn down, tire bj out, strike with him, and he was subbed after 1 minute and 50 seconds on the ground . . . And it sounded to me like the corner had the plan of leg kicks and more effective striking and kenny didnt fallow it, listen to his corner during round breaks, they say “stop doin what you’re doing kenny, we are calling out combos, 1s, 2s, kicks etc and you arent listening!” . . . One more thing, its Mark that sounds like a 12 year old yelling and screaming, not keith, how could you miss that? Mark cornered somone else that earlier that night and it was the same thing in that fight too . . . yea??? BJ BJ BJ!!!

by ( (Adam G) ) on Sep 19, 2009 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Im going to be honest, I never liked Keith! im sure he is a great ju jitsu teacher, but what the fock qualifies him to teach mma? As a fighter Kenny wont grow unless he learns to separate family from BUsiness. SOUNDS LIKE HE CHOSE KEITH over Mark, and to me that is a very stupid idea. If Keith bumped heads with Mark, and took control away from Mark, it doesnt matter who Kenny goes to train with, Faraz, or Jackson, doesnt really matter if Keith doesnt allow the trainers to do there Jobs and takes control of the training camp and strategy.

by john G on Sep 19, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I can tell the difference between Mark and Keith buddy, it was Keith screamin “YEEES KENNY C’MON”…. whatever, bad move here, he should have told Keith to go and stayed with Mark, no need for the family to be in the same camp…

It’s a little late to change strategy in the middle of the fight you know, they should have had a better one before the fight

by RoBerto on Sep 19, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions

NEWS***

King Mo will sign a deal with strikeforce and is expected to fight Gegard mOusasi on the CBS card!

by john G on Sep 19, 2009 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

That would be one hell of a step up for Mo. Doesn’t really fit in with his “come up slowly” strategy. Mousasi will wreck him. Love to see it though.

by Jeremyjackson on Sep 19, 2009 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Not sure how real him fighting mOusasi is…but I know that he is about to sign with strikeforce and they really dont have anyone to match mousasi up against. The HW division is monopolized by the UFC, but with the signing of King Mo, along with Fejao, they will boast two of the hottest young prospects in the game.

who else could they bring in to match up against Gegard? He may have to not cut weight and take a fight at Heavyweight or do a catch weight. He cant get down to 185 lbs anymore, but maybe he could still get down to 195 lbs, and have a middleweight move up to fight him. If they can pull that off, he could face:
-Rematch with Jacre
-Nick Diaz definitely walks around heavier then 185 lbs.
-southworth
-Vernon Tiger white
-They can ask Dream to scratch Soko from the silly tournament and have him fight Gegard in Strikeforce. Or they could even make the Soko/mousasi fight in strikeforce count as the semi final of the Hulk tournament, and when Gegard beats him they can have him go back to DReam in the future to fight in the superhulk finals
-Fejao
-King Mo
-I would love to see mOusasi fight Overeem but we all know that alistar CANT fight in the USA.

by john G on Sep 19, 2009 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Damn, i am away from MMA for like a week and a bunch of $hit like this happen. Crazyness. Keith is doesn’t know jack IMO, Dellagrotte made Kenny.

King Mo vs Mousasi might turn out to be interesting if they did match up. It really comes down to weather Mousasi can sub him from the bottom. Otherwise he gets UD’d in my opinion.

by NameNotRequired on Sep 19, 2009 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions

nicks next fight will be at 170..

i like the idea of strikeforce having the soko/mous fight and still count it as the hulk tourny., but that won’t happen.

i think he’ll fight king mo, or fejao.. thats my guess.

by stinky~fingers on Sep 19, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Nice John! Hope Our boy Mousasi destroys Lawal!

by Syd on Sep 19, 2009 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions

NOt definite that he will fight MOusasi, but I am positive that he will sign with strikeforce. YOU know me, I hear it, I pass it along.

NNR: Who do you see as the safest bets tonight buddy?

by john G on Sep 19, 2009 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s never too late to change strategy in a fight, In BJ Vs KenFlo, the takedown strategy wasn’t working Kenny should have worked his way up to the clinch putting BJ against the cage and tried to outpoint n’ out hustle BJ with short punches, elbows n’ knees. I doubt Dellagrotte had much to do with the strategy in that fight. I can’t say that Zahabi isn’t a great choice if ur going to change trainers… maybe Kenny’s brother will learn to shut tha’ f*ck up!

by DAVE A on Sep 19, 2009 8:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I concur. Well put.

by S Dubs on Sep 19, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

KenFLo will be a true tier one fighter now. BJ the swallow better look out cause KenFlo coming back baby

by bigmcmac on Sep 19, 2009 12:25 PM EDT reply actions

lol . . . Penn should just retire since the guy that couldnt take him down for four strait rounds is “coming back baby” . . . lollllllllll!!! BJ BJ BJ!!!

by ( (Adam G) ) on Sep 19, 2009 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions

yea i think we all know bj could have taken kenny down whenever he wanted in that fight lol

by ja434650 on Sep 19, 2009 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

he definitly made it look easy peasy once he tried to, looked like he was taking down a first timer . . . but penn better look out, the 3 time loser when it counts most is “coming back baby!”

by ( (Adam G) ) on Sep 19, 2009 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Ya that was embarrassing, he dumped Ken Flo on his ass first try easily

by ShaiZ on Sep 19, 2009 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Doing your best and being beaten by a better fighter isn’t embarrassing.

What IS embarrassing is calling out guys for being less than a man for quitting… and then quitting yourself two weeks later instead of going out on your shield.

by Jeremyjackson on Sep 19, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

As big a Penn fan as I am, I was disappointed in Kenny’s overall performance. I like Kenny, and felt bad for him that he lost. I was of course rooting for BJ, but I thought Kenny was better on the ground. I was hoping to see some good transitions, and not overall domination. Either way, I hope BJ makes Diego say NO! NO! NO!, on his way back to the drssing room after getting choked out. BJ

by --utaptout-- on Sep 19, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions

JJ is right. I lost a ton of respect for BJ after the GSP fight. BJ was dominated, quit the fight, then accused GSP of using grease and steroids. B.J. is the most dominate 155 out there, and I expect him to beat Diego. If for some strange reason he loses though, it will be someone else’s fault.

by naturalshadow on Sep 20, 2009 1:40 AM EDT up reply actions

So now after every fight Kenny loses from now on is Keith Florian gonna claim that “I’m not makin’ excuses or nuthin yo, but Dellagrotte poked Kenny in the eye” …….. terrible move by Kenny but then blood is thicker than water I guess.

by Neil on Sep 19, 2009 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

Florian is at GSP’s gym and GSP trains at Jackson’s now with Guida?

There seems to be too many conections.

by Freddy on Sep 19, 2009 1:18 PM EDT reply actions

Don’t we normally complain that guys associated with the same camps won’t fight each other? (like Swick, Fitch and Kos)

Besides, TriStar and The Jackson camp are located far apart and GSP (all around sportsman) seems to be the only commonality between the two.

I don’t see the issue here.

by loup02 on Sep 19, 2009 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions

so guida and florian are training at the same camp . . . sounds good and retarded to me, hope it splits up the taining camp, hate everyone associated with that camp, yes cause im a penn fan . . . so.

by ( (Adam G) ) on Sep 19, 2009 1:30 PM EDT reply actions

I agree, with the exception of Carwin. I hope he smashes Brock.

by --utaptout-- on Sep 19, 2009 6:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I dont like that camp either! I respect many of those fighters but I cant really say I care if any of them win or lose, unless I bet money on them. I used to be a big GSP fan, but I cant stand watching him fight anymore. His style bores me! The reason I am so critical of GSP is because he is so well rounded, that he could do whatever he wants and provide us fans with some truly spectacular and memorable finishes, but instead he just plays it safe and takes everyone down, sits in the safest positions possible

by john G on Sep 19, 2009 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions

The reason I am so critical of “Fedor” is because he is so well rounded, that he could do whatever he wants and provide us “fans” with some truly spectacular and memorable fights, but instead he just plays it safe and takes the Strikeforce route, to be in the safest position possible

by john G's alter ego on Sep 19, 2009 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions

His Brother is an a@$ If you listen during the fight .you say what the hell is he talking about. I don’t like either one of them (trainers) not Kenny. He is a computer Geek and should stick to that

by JP on Sep 19, 2009 2:38 PM EDT reply actions

kenny your not a top level fighter and your brother sucks at being a coach, I hoped you was going to try to use those little weasel elbos on B.J. so he could crack you in the head with one of his

by steve on Sep 19, 2009 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

Kenny should have relied on his strengths vs. bj instead of trying to use someone else’s game plan. I say make him fight another 10 fights in the lw division before getting another title shot.

by spitforce on Sep 19, 2009 4:52 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, Keith maye a great jui-jitsu coach, but not a good mma coach…I paid attention to the last couple of fights and noticed Keith shouting over Mark in between rounds, basically not giving Mark a chance to coach Kenny. Big mistake if you ask me.

by Eric on Sep 19, 2009 5:41 PM EDT reply actions

This pretty much guarantees a Guida victory in my opinion. Kenny got rid of the wrong guy.

by whatev on Sep 19, 2009 6:31 PM EDT reply actions

I like Dellagrotte. He’s a damn good trainer, and he’s a very classy guy, as this quote shows. I wish Kenny the best, but he’s never going to be a champ at 155. He’s getting older, and he lacks the one certain thing that makes someone etter than everyone else. His striking is good, but he’ll never KO anyone. His jiujitsu is solid, but not world class. His strength and his wrestling are merely average. If Diego can’t beat BJ (which I dont think he can), then who in the world will give him a fight? Edgar’s striking looked really good against Sherk, but BJ’s is better, and theyre’s no comparo on the ground. BJ also has reach and height on Edgar. BJ’s gonna hold that belt for a long time, and I couldn’t be happier about it! BJ

by --utaptout-- on Sep 19, 2009 6:50 PM EDT reply actions

dellagrotte made kenny what he is and kieth didnt like mark getting all the credit for it,keith seems like douche bag to me for some reason. thats my opinion

by FLEX on Sep 19, 2009 8:30 PM EDT reply actions

Mark is a class act for taking the high road like that. The problems with him and Keith are far worse than anyone could imagine. Keith is going to be the downfall of Kenny. Keith is the one that came up with the terrible strategy against BJ not Mark. I know that Kenny only trained with Mark a couple of times before the fight and Kevin Kearns resigned from Kennys camp before the BJ fight.

by Fred S on Sep 21, 2009 8:10 AM EDT reply actions