Dominick Cruz finally got his belt back by defeating T.J. Dillashaw last Sunday. However, it’s not the much awaited victory that almost broke MMA Twitter, it’s the shot he threw at Kenny Florian that did.
Just recently, Kenny Florian is in a bit of hot water and received a suspension from FOX Sports after allegedly plagiarising an article that was posted to FOXSports.com. Everybody was taken by surprise with what happened, including former FOX Sports analyst and the new bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz.
During the post-victory speech, Cruz threw a shade at Florian by saying, “Kenny Florian, stop copying and pasting, man.”
However, Cruz was quick to clarify that what he said was just making fun of Florian’s situation and that both of them have a good relationship. Cruz and Florian used to work together as FOX Sports analysts, which probably explains why the two have no bad blood against each other.
“I gave Kenny a little bit of a tough time, but I love that guy. He’s got a good brain for the sport. I was just throwing a little jab at him, because he’s my friend and it was funny. But nothing but respect for Kenny, because he is a good guy,” Cruz said.
Cruz revealed during the post-fight press conference that Florian was predicting that Dillashaw will win over Cruz in the MMA bout. Maybe this is where the dig Cruz made initially came from.
The new bantamweight champ also said that the jab he gave Florian shouldn’t be made a big deal since it was just a friendly fire.
“It was friendly fire. I like Kenny. He didn’t pick me in the fight. He gave me really no chance in this fight, so it was just a little poke. Nothing big. He’s got great hair,” Cruz said.
As for Florian, the analyst released a formal apology for his oversight. Lee Wylie, an English boxing analyst accused the former UFC fighter of using parts of his work and posting it on FoxSports.com before the MMA fight. In fact, it looks like the article appeared to be lifted directly from Wylie’s article as it contained nearly word for word parts of his work.
FOX Sports has released an official statement about the issue as well. Here’s the full statement:
“It is vitally important that FOX Sports and FOXSports.com maintain credibility and trust with their readers, viewers and fans. FOX UFC on-air personality Kenny Florian is being suspended beginning immediately for a critical oversight in a story posted earlier this week on FOXSports.com. Florian has admitted and regrets his mistake and apologized for the error,” FOX network said.
Last Friday, Florian posted a statement Twitter and expressed his apology to Wyie. Florian also revealed that the error came from his poorly organized MMA notes.
“To my fans and followers I’d like to apologize for an oversight on my part.
As a student and fan of the martial arts, I have been recording observations on fighters in various combat disciplines since 1997, and at atimes include attributed commentary from other sources. In preparing an article on the upcoming Cruz/Dillashaw fight for Foxsports.com, I referred to my notes specifically to research comparisons of Willie Pep and Dominick Cruz. I referenced perspectives on Pep, which were originially articulated by Lee Wylie. To my regret and embarassment, a credit was not listed where I should have listed it. Upon realizing this error, I immediatly contacted Lee and apologized, and corrected the associated paragraph in the article, properly attributing Lee as the source.
Your trust is paramount to my credibility and reputation, and I promise to be much more careful in the future,” Florian said.
