From there, Florian seemed to get comfortable and took over the fight as Nunes faded, winning a unanimous decision Saturday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
The first round was relatively uneventful until the finish. Both men got a takedown but could do little with it. Nunes worked his usual spinning fists and kicks but took the round when he dropped Florian with a left hand in the final seconds, stunning everybody.
The second round saw Florian work for a takedown but unable to get it. It was Nunes who got the floor to the ground. He stood up and eventually referee John McCarthy stood Florian up. Florian would get a takedown with a little less than 90 seconds left and work some moderate ground-and-pound as the round ended.
Florian got a takedown and looked content to ride out the fight but Nunes was able to get back to his feet with around two minutes to go. Nunes would make a valiant effort and tag Florian with some shots, dropping him to a knee in a wild sequence to end the fight. Could that sway some judges?
The scorecards read 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 all for Kenny Florian.
Florian had been inactive since dropping a decision to Gray Maynard at UFC 118. That fight helped him make the decision to move to featherweight. He improves to 14-5.
Nunes was a winner of three straight heading into the bout, last beating Mike Brown by split decision in January. He falls to 16-2 for his career.