UFC 136 Fight Card: 10 Things to Expect This Saturday Night in Houston, Texas

I said it this past summer, and I'm saying it again: Every fall card from the UFC, post-UFC 133—except for UFCs 138 and 139—features at least monumental title collision, and with both UFC 134 and UFC 135 in the books, along with last week's UFC on Versus 6, we're rapidly gunning up for UFC 136 in Houston.

In between Steve Cantwell's return against Mike Massenzio and UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar's trilogy against Gray Maynard is at least one solid representation of four of the seven established UFC weight divisions, and the who's who that fills out the card in between that first Facebook preliminary and the main event guarantees fireworks, all before the co-main event and main event take place.

All the potential for Fight of The Night, Submission of The Night and Knockout of The Night exists in each fight on this card—and I say that with genuine excitement—and it's all well and good on paper, but there's a big difference between a fight card on paper and a fight card in reality.

So with all of this unleashed from its proverbial Pandora's Box, what can we expect to go down this Saturday in Houston for UFC 136?

10. This Is the Most Stacked Card for Any UFC Event in Texas (So Far)

Take it from a North Texas kid—the Lone Star State is home to three things:

1. Stereotypes pertaining to cowboy hats and country music (we are more urban than you think, even if we sound otherwise.)

2. Four US Presidents.

3. Sports: Football, basketball, baseball...and it doesn't hurt that Shark Fights and XKO only help the MMA movement in Texas either.

That, plus Matt Serra upset Georges St-Pierre in Houston, while Vitor Belfort, Rick Story, Josh Koscheck, Paul Daley, Jim Miller, Tyson Griffin, Alistair Overeem, Chad Griggs, Daniel Cormier and Jorge Masvidal all own victories in Dallas.

The point is that MMA cards never disappoint when they hit Texas, whether they're that loaded or not, and if you honestly are expecting UFC 136 to be the worst MMA-on-PPV card in the sport's history, you might want to watch some of the fighters on the card.

Either that, or watch MMA. It's a fun sport: unpredictable and budding, but fun.

9. Stipe Miocic Is the Toughest (Untested) Opponent That Joey Beltran Has Faced

You don't have to believe it before you see it, but Stipe Miocic is The Croatian Zombie and now a challenge to Beltran's "Mexican Zombie" reputation, with the only difference being that Mirko Cro Cop probably was more reluctant to let Beltran wear his shorts than he was to let Miocic.

Now, how can the undefeated-yet-untested prospect be a zombie?

As you can see in the video, he is a direct fighter who can still land heavy technical shots that count, even when he looks fatigued, and apparently, he's supposed to have some good takedowns as well.

Takedowns will be a problem for Beltran, who is well-known for not using any kind of takedown that doesn't involve putting his fists to the face of his opponent as part of the technique.

Some may say this one could go to the judges, and I might agree with them, as the undefeated Croatian could find himself either outworking or getting outworked by Beltran.

Either way, I wouldn't expect either zombie to run back to their caskets before the 15 minute time limit expires.

Anticipate the judges sealing this fight's fate before closing the casket and calling it a night.

8. Steve Cantwell’s PPV Return Could Be Mike Massenzio’s Unlikely Breakthrough

OK, "The Robot" isn't technically coming back to PPV. He's just going to be on Facebook, but you get the point.

Anyway, Diabate dominated Cantwell to the point of scores of 30-26 and 30-25, so to say Cantwell needs to make his Middleweight debut count is a gigantic understatement.

Of course, Massenzio just needs to prove he has business being on the roster, as he has not been able to break through and assert himself as someone worth watching, but is that the kind of boost he needs?

He must have earned some bit of confidence from someone if a three-round whooping at UFC 131 thanks to Krzysztof Soszynski wasn't enough to get him booted from the UFC, and maybe with some heightened focus and a beastly training camp (Antoni Hardonk, anyone?), UFC 136 could be his night.

Hey, it worked for Jared Hamman, didn't it?

Only thing that sucks here (for Massenzio) is that Cantwell has his back against the wall too, and unlike "I, Robot," this is one time when you don't want to put a robot against the wall.

7. Aaron Simpson and Darren Elkins Need to Impress so Much, It's Not Even Funny

Key points you need to know:

• Aaron Simpson defeated Brad Tavares in a performance that many considered among his most conservative performances inside the Octagon so far—uncharacteristic for a man who was something of a monster before facing Tom Lawlor and Chris Leben.

• “Ravishing Red” Eric Schafer is 3-4 as a UFC-contracted Mixed Martial Artist, but he is also a Mixed Martial Artist looking to make an emphatic change with a drop to 185. That, plus he's a Roufusport boy, so that's something that "A-Train" might want to keep in mind.

• Tiequan Zhang, The Mongolian Wolf, has one loss to Danny Downes, but his last fight saw him drop to 145 and successfully rack up another Submission victory at Jason Reinhardt’s expense—his 12th career submission victory and his 11th career win by way of a legitimate submission hold—so let's not pretend like he's in a lake of fire if Elkins takes him down because Zhang is the type of guy that makes people look like they need a ground game when he gets their neck or their extremities.

• Darren Elkins lost his UFC 131 bout with Michihiro Omigawa, yet he walked away with a unanimous decision victory, so to say he needs to beat Zhang with zero doubts about the victory is a gigantic understatement...to put it another way, you have to believe that Elkins is the man to not only defeat, but also RETIRE, Jose Aldo in order to tell me with a straight face that Omigawa really didn't win that fight at all.

Any questions?

6. Will the Biggest Win of Jorge Santiago's Career Come Against Demian Maia?

Just to bring you up to speed: Demian Maia lost a decision to Mark Munoz at UFC 131, while Brian Stann finished Jorge Santiago at UFC 130

Prior to his UFC return, Jorge Santiago posted up a win in arguably the greatest Mixed Martial Arts bout in the history of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts when he beat Kazuo “The Hitman” Misaki in a miraculous five-round comeback that would have seen Santiago lose in dominating fashion had the fight gone to the judges—and that would have meant the loss of Santiago's Sengoku Middleweight title as well, but nobody would dispute Misaki's win, even if Santiago had gotten that 10-8 round.

Since then, his momentum train has swerved, but we're not blaming Brian Stann for doing his job as a fighter now, are we?

As for Demian Maia, he's a great Jiu-Jitsu practitioner (Jiu-Jitsoka, if you want to use the terminology), but ever since his KO loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC 102, he has shown a better wrestling game and a better stand-up game—although neither his wrestling nor his striking are elite-level, and he has not been as exciting to watch as of late.

Then again, if you get the job done in the cage, should it really matter how exciting it looks?

Bottom line is this: Santiago needs to make Maia fight Santiago’s fight from the get-go, and if he has an opening to get inside, he needs to pull the trigger, and Maia needs to frustrate Santiago into doing something that leads to Maia's realm of grappling.

Maia is the favorite on paper, but if this is MMA, then one could say Santiago is just as likely to beat Maia as Maia is to beat Santiago.

5. Showtime's Revenge Could Come Against the Lil' Heathen

Anthony Pettis is back, boys and girls.

He hoped that a win over Clay Guida at the TUF 13 Finale would put him in line for the winner of Edgar-Maynard 3, but Guida had other plans.

Jeremy Stephens has other plans for Pettis as well, just as he had other plans for Danny Downes and Marcus Davis, and when Stephens has plans for up-and-coming gamers like Pettis, he likes to deliver.

Against arguably one the MMA World Lightweight Division's Top five most creative fighters, it will not be easy for Stephens to deliver on his promise of a victory, but like we said previously, we can't blame a fighter for doing his job and going for the win.

Actually, we could, but I think Pettis doesn't like people suggesting that he should throw fights, and frankly, I don't like people throwing fights either.

4. Déjà Vu for the Bad Boy? It Could Be Against Phan

Nam Phan won his UFC debut against Leonard Garcia on the scorecards of the fans at home, but of course, the three cageside judges said otherwise at the12th Ultimate Fighter Finale.

Now, mind you, I personally picked Garcia to win against Phan, but I know why the judges said Phan lost, and it exposes the judging system as one that actually does make Tony Romo look like Troy Aikman—and I'm from Texas, so of course, I get to land that jab at Romo's inconsistency.

Point is, Garcia's brawling style makes it to where everybody knows he's active, regardless of how many times it actually seems as though he cannot miss, and that's why he has won some of the fights he has won.

Nam Phan won because he actually found a home for his shots, but Garcia won because he fought Phan the same way he fights everyone else—by mixing in technical shots with a barely-controllable brawling offense of striking.

Of course, Houston and Lubbock are about two to three hours apart on a day with good traffic and travel conditions, so of course the home field plays a role, but I don't think Garcia wants to rely on that for another win on Phan.

If Garcia is going to beat Phan, he wants it to be at a point where only the fans who bet their neighborhood on Garcia losing are the ones that say Phan won this time out also.

3. Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard...Enough Said.

Two Heavyweights with knock out power and much endurance in a potential Fight of The Year contender...

Oh wait, that's next month's fight on Fox...my bad.

Joe Lauzon isn't exactly a knockout artist—that's Melvin Guillard coming into Houston with the power in his body to knock a feller out—but like Cain Velasquez in a past life and Junior Dos Santos, Lauzon and Guillard have the drive to become major in their division, and it's odd that they are only now in that mix.

You don't even have to like or respect either guy to know what they are about, which is the best part about their fights. Lauzon likes to submit guys like Curt Warburton, while Guillard prefers knocking out the Shane Rollers and Evan Dunhams of the world, and both make it look as easy as blinking.

If you want yourself an automatic Fight of The Night candidate, you've found it in the form of this fight, and that goes without saying (or mentioning the name Gilbert Melendez).

2. The Rise of Brian Stann vs. the Return of Chael Sonnen

If you visit B/R, you know how I feel about Chael Sonnen, and you probably know my take on the UFC 117 drug test he failed, along with all the other controversies that followed.

You might also know that I picked Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago to beat Brian Stann in the All-American's past two fights (three if you count the one with the fly, the only one in which Stann needed some help to win).

All biases aside, I will publicly admit that despite Sonnen's claim to the contrary, a better-than-the-best Sonnen will fight a better-than-the-best Stann, and while it's unknown if the winner really does get Anderson Silva with Dan Henderson in the shuffle now (for reasons I don't fathom, since nobody is question Hendo's UFC 82 loss to Silva), the winner of this bout pleads one hell of a case for a title shot.

The only question left to be answered here is, can Brian Stann do what few believe he can do and legitimately defeat Chael Sonnen?

1. Will Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard Make Their Last Shots Count in Texas?

To quote Stone Cold Steve Austin, "When you beat someone's ass in Texas, then you've done something," and that goes without saying in what might be the UFC Championship Doubleheader of The Millenium.

The MMA World Featherweight Champion and current monarch of the UFC Featherweight kingdom, Jose Aldo's four rounds against Mark Hominick negate the events of the fifth round—the only round taken from Aldo at UFC 129, but by no means was it the first time Aldo had lost a round on the scorecards.

His name alone is reason enough why many have questioned if the second time at 145 was a wise time for Kenny Florian—a natural 155 pound submission specialist with razor-sharp elbows and great technical striking—to cash in on this dream fight, which is a title fight also, and let's face facts: Florian is 0-2 in title fights.

As for Edgar-Maynard 3, Edgar's rally in the 20 minutes that followed the beating Maynard laid on him in the first five sells itself when you figure in the split draw.

MMA fans are split three ways on this, with many taking a side and saying Frankie won or Gray won, but a third agree with the draw.

The last time Gray Maynard was on the same card as Kenny Florian, Maynard was grinding out a decision on Florian.

This time, however, both men have one last shot to take it to that next level by winning the big one.

The only reason why they wouldn't would be the men that will stand in front of them come Saturday night in Houston.

I know who I want to win, some of you know who I want to win and I might be able to guess who some of you might want to win, but I don't know for sure who you guys are backing in this fight.

Therefore, in the B/R tradition of intense debate and balls-out predictions, I want you to tell me who will win and why you think they will win in Houston—and please, don't be shy about going crazy if you are predicting a finish!

Thank you all for viewing this, and I'll see you this Saturday for UFC 136 live on Bleacher Report MMA!