- published: 03 Mar 2016
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Kenneth Alan Florian (born May 26, 1976) is a retired Peruvian-American mixed martial artist who formerly competed as a lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, and is known for his cerebral approach to the sport based on his meticulous game plans and well-articulated fight analysis. He is also known for his tendency to finish his opponents, having earned stoppages in 12 of his 14 career victories, and for his devastating elbow strikes. He is the only fighter in history to compete in four different weight divisions under the UFC banner, Also Florian is the only fighter currently in the UFC to not have won a title after fighting for the belt three times.
Florian first gained recognition for his appearance on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. He holds notable victories over former PRIDE champion Takanori Gomi, current UFC contenders Clay Guida, Roger Huerta, Joe Lauzon, Din Thomas, Joe Stevenson, Sam Stout, and Diego Nunes. He has competed for the UFC Lightweight Championship twice and the UFC Featherweight Championship, but came up short against Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, and Jose Aldo. He is currently ranked as the #4 featherweight in the world by MMA Fighting and as the #10 featherweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly.
Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.
Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ware, Massachusetts and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.
White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns about 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.
Alex Karalexis (born September 20, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist of Greek descent. He has a professional record of 10 wins and 6 losses. Among other organizations, he has fought in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Alex Karalexis competed on The Ultimate Fighter 1 as a middleweight, and was the third middleweight pick on Team Couture. After the challenge of episode 3, Team Liddell won the pick and decided to have Diego Sanchez fight Karalexis in the very first middleweight fight of the series. Karalexis was defeated via rear naked choke in the first round and was eliminated from the show. Karalexis later made a return for the series finale as a welterweight to defeat Josh Rafferty via TKO in the first round of the first fight of the evening.
Traditionally a welterweight, Karalexis has dropped from 170 lb to 155 lb in order to compete in the lightweight division. His first lightweight bout was on June 3, 2007 at WEC 28, where he defeated Josh Smith by majority decision.