UFC
UFC NEWS: Kenny Florian to meet Diego Nunes at UFC 131 in featherweight debut
Feb 19, 2011 - 9:55:35 AM UFC NEWS: Kenny Florian to meet Diego Nunes at UFC 131 in featherweight debut

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Two-time Lightweight Title challenger Kenny Florian will make his featherweight debut at UFC 131 this June in a fight against Diego Nunes.

Florian revealed the matchup on the latest edition of ESPN2's MMA Live, on which he is an analyst.

The 34-year-old Florian is making the drop after a loss to Gray Maynard in his last fight in August. He was scheduled to return in a headlining bout at January's UFC Fight for the Troops 2 against Evan Dunham, but injury took him out of that fight and he decided to make the move down to one of the UFC's newest weight classes.

In Nunes he faces a very talented and successful featherweight. Nunes has won three straight fights since suffering his first and only career defeat to LC Davis by decision in the WEC. He brings a 16-1 career record into this fight, and he most recently picked up his biggest career win when he upset former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown in his UFC debut on New Year's Day.

UFC 131 is expected to take place from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on June 11, and is also expected to feature TUF 13 coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos in the night's main event.

Penick's Analysis: This is a very solid featherweight fight. It's a big opportunity for Nunes, as he'll get on the pay-per-view card, and Nunes makes for a very tough test for Florian as he heads down to the featherweight division for the first time. This should be a very exciting fight, and this UFC 131 card is shaping up to be another really good offering from the UFC.

[Kenny Florian art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]