Growing up, Kenny excelled in many sports including; tennis and martial arts. At one point, soccer became so important to him that he put his martial arts studies aside in order to practice and play soccer year round. This dedication helped Kenny become a star midfielder in high school and he was recruited for the Olympic Development program in Massachusetts. Later, he went on to play Division 1 soccer at Boston College. Here he was successful both on and off the soccer field; earning Big-East Academic All-Star status, and becoming a Dean's list student.

(In late 2003, Kenny Florian became part of a very elite and exclusive group of Americans when he was awarded a black belt in BJJ.)

In early 2002, Kenny decided he was ready for yet another challenge. He wanted to test his BJJ skills in the Mixed Martial Arts arena. In his very first fight, he took on one of the most experienced and dangerous fighters in the region, Nuri Shakir. Nuri was a well-rounded freestyle fighter known as a potent striker and an accomplished submission wrestler. Kenny earned a tapout win when he secured a dominant top mount position on the ground, finishing his opponent with strikes.

In June of 2004, Kenny decided to formally enter into striking training. As always, Kenny sought out the best he could find and ended up at the Sityodtong Muay-Thai Camp in Somerville, MA. Kru Mark DellaGrotte welcomed him with open arms and began showing him the effectiveness and beauty of Muay Thai.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 was produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was a 12 week reality series seen nationally on Spike TV. By making it through all of the elimination rounds, Kenny became a finalist and fought Diego Sanchez live in front of 3 million plus viewers for a six figure contract. Although Sanchez was victorious, Kenny felt the experience helped him better understand how to deal with the intense spotlight he was now under as one of the UFC's most popular fighters.

Some of Kenny’s most challenging opponents include Canadian Muay Thai champion Sam Stout, UFC veteran Sean Sherk, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Alvin Robinson, and Din Thomas.

His winning streak has continued in 2008. In April he beat Joe Lauzon at Ultimate Fight Night 13 with an aggressive style that earned fight of the night status. At UFC 87 Kenny decisively showcased his boxing, wrestling and overall mma skills against Roger Huerta, earning a unanimous victory. With five straight victories (12-3), Kenny has become the leading lightweight title contender to challenge BJ Penn.

Community service is also big on his priority list. In the summer of 2007, Kenny traveled to Afghanistan on a two week goodwill tour to meet the troops. In the spring of 2008, he visited a middle school in Lowell, Massachusetts to talk about making the right choices and overcoming hurdles.

In addition to his fighting career, Kenny has been pursuing television work. He appeared in the pilot for a new Discovery Channel program called "Time Warp" and did the color commentary (replacing Joe Rogan) for UFC 83.

Kenny is co-host of MMA Live, a weekly show that is currently seen on ESPN.com and ESPN mobile television.

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