Former 3-time UFC title challenger Kenny Florian joins PFL commentary booth ahead of season opener April 23
- Former three-time UFC title challenger Kenny Florian has joined PFL's commentary team.
- Florian will work alongside three-time UFC champ Randy Couture and Sean O'Connell.
- The PFL season restarts April 23 in Atlantic City with a regular season broadcast on ESPN.
The former three-time UFC title challenger Kenny Florian will join PFL's commentary team ahead of the rising MMA firm's season opener April 23.
"Breaking down MMA fights and high-level martial arts techniques is what I enjoy most, and I'm elated to be a part of the [PFL] commentary team to get a chance to do just that," Florian said in a statement sent to Insider.
A fourth degree black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, Florian reached the final of The Ultimate Fighter in 2005, losing the tournament final to Diego Sanchez.
He went on to compete under the UFC banner until his last fight against Jose Aldo in 2011. Through his career he shared the Octagon with a who's who of MMA fighters like B.J. Penn, Clay Guida, and Takanori Gomi.
In his post-fighting days, Florian held a mic as an analyst for ESPN and worked alongside Jon Anik.
He will now share the PFL commentary booth with the former three-time UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture and the play-by-play commentator Sean O'Connell.
"We are very excited to add someone as knowledgeable and charismatic as Kenny to our booth, calling all the action this season alongside Randy and Sean," said PFL CEO Peter Murray.
Founded in 2018, the PFL distinguished itself from other major MMA organizations by operating in a manner similar to traditional sports leagues.
It holds a regular season, a playoffs, and a finals that are akin to traditional North American sports like basketball and football.
By contrast, the market-leading UFC - which PFL hopes to one day rival - makes individual matches in a multi-fight card where winners are propelled higher in divisional rankings until they, one day, compete in championship bouts.
The PFL has held two seasons so far, in 2018 and 2019, but had to postpone its 2020 schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It restarts its live event business inside a bubble in Atlantic City's Ocean Casino Resort on April 23 with a nine-bout bill topped by a lightweight match between former UFC champ Anthony Pettis and boxing cult hero Clay Collard.
A 10-bout card on April 29 features the former Bellator MMA champion Rory MacDonald in his PFL debut against David Michaud in a main event.
Other regular season dates in the PFL calendar land on May 6, June 10, June 17, and June 25 and will be broadcast on ESPN 2, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+.