Combat Sports Law

Update January 16, 2016– Fox Sports has now suspended Florian issuing the following 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.

Update – Florian has issued the following apology –

______________________

Analyzing fights is hard work and it takes special skill and great effort for individuals such as Robin Black and Jack Slack to provide their industry leading breakdowns.

Following similarities first noted by The Naked Gambler this week, former UFC fighter and current Fox Sports MMA analyst Kenny Florian has been accused of “outrageous” plagiarism by boxing analyst Lee Wylie.

Earlier this week Florian published a breakdown on FoxSpots.com of the upcoming bantamweight title bout between Dominic Cruz and TJ Dillashaw.  While discussing Dillashaw’s footwork Florian noted

“On a fundamental level, the reason for the “step and slide” is simple. The less time a fighter stays airborne, the better his balance and the more economical his movement.”

The problem?  On December 3, 2015 Wylie uploaded an analysis of boxer Willie Pep on YouTube with the following observation:

It doesn’t end there.

Florian also noted that “Everything in fighting begins and ends with the feet.” Where Wylie wrote as follows

Florian – “This means he steps with his lead foot towards his opponent and then slides his rear foot the same distance to retain his base. There’s not much space between the soles of his feet and the canvas as he works to regulate distance and offset his opponent’s alignment.”

Wylie  –

Florian – “After circling to his left and ending in southpaw stance for example, he will abruptly step in and strike with a left hand just as his opponent begins to follow”

Wylie –

Florian – “Dillashaw relies on the inherently simplistic jab as the cornerstone of his arsenal more than Cruz”

Wylie –

The similarities go on.  Wylie, after having this brought to his attention called the actions ‘outrageous’

Florian’s article has since been updated with the following Editors Note

(Editor’s Note: Language in this breakdown borrows from written material in a video of an in-depth look at the defensive boxing prowess of Willie Pep by TheFightCity.com boxing analyst Lee Wylie. The original version of this story did not contain this credit. We regret the oversight.)

Florian has yet to publicly comment on this matter but has apparently apologized to Wylie and says he will clear the air on his podcast with Wylie taking the high road and accepting the apology.

It is unclear what Florian’s explanation is but for his sake hopefully he will clear the air sooner than next week as his actions are bringing swift condemnation by MMA’s online community