UFC 136 Fight Card: Why You Should Give a Damn

It’s been 14 months since UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar made the first successful defense of his belt against B.J. Penn.

Since then, we’ve had a whopping one title fight in arguably the UFC’s most competitive division.

Fight of the Year candidacy aside, January’s draw between Edgar and top contender Gray Maynard put the 155-pound ranks in a bit of a logjam.

Ten months later, Maynard and Edgar will settle the score in a bout that should be captivating the minds of fight fans far more than it likely is.

It’s a fitting description for the UFC 136 card as a whole, an offering that rivals any lineup the UFC has rolled out in recent memory.

Full of great fights with notable ramifications on their respective divisions, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my weekend than to drive four hours south to the Toyota Center.

And that’s what I’ll be doing. As such, I’ve figured out why I should give a damn about this weekend’s card.

The better question, though, is why should you?

Will Anyone Care?

With 40 minutes of action between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard in the books, the UFC’s top two lightweights will go to war in Saturday night’s main event.

The expectations are high in the final stanza of this trilogy, especially since their last bout produced what many feel is still the year’s best fight.

Whether Edgar and Maynard will live up to the lofty bar set before them isn’t a question for me—I don’t think Saturday replicates the drama of the UFC 125 tilt, but we still get a fun, competitive, back-and-forth scrap—it’s a matter of how many people will see it happen.

UFC 125 drew a buyrate of approximately 270,000, a figure that eclipses only UFC 127 for the lowest numbers for a UFC pay-per-view this year.

It’s a pretty alarming figure for a card that eventually produced one of the more memorable five-round title fights we’ve seen in a while and one of the lightweight division’s signature bouts, and we’re not exactly in a phase where fans are starved for fighting.

Saturday marks the fourth consecutive weekend to feature a UFC card in some form or fashion, starting with UFC Fight Night 25 on Sept. 17th, UFC 135 on Sept. 24th and last weekend’s UFC on Versus 6 offering.

There was also the debut of the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Sharing the month with a UFC 137 fight card that includes names like Georges St-Pierre, B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz, it’s hard to pinpoint where UFC 136 falls in this mix.

The criticism of the UFC with regard to oversaturation comes up time and time again, and my initial worry is that this card will fall in line with what has already been a disappointing year for UFC PPV viewership, given how stellar 2010 was.

It’s a shame because Saturday’s card is one of the year’s better top-to-bottom offerings from the UFC, and there were some bizarre circumstances surrounding UFC 125.

That card was originally scheduled to include Shane Carwin vs. Roy Nelson and Jose Aldo vs. Josh Grispi—worthy complements to the Edgar-Maynard rematch, a bout the UFC was already leery of headlining a card on its own.

It’s a different case this time around, with Aldo and Kenny Florian bringing the rare double-title fight bill to Saturday’s card, with the return of Chael Sonnen also of note.

Factor in the rare instance when the only injuries to occur on this card resulted in arguably better fights (Josh Grispi vs. Matt Grice becomes Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia, Nick Catone vs. Aaron Simpson becomes Eric Schafer vs. Simpson), and the stars are aligning for a pretty special night in Houston.

Hopefully, you and I aren’t the only ones who notice.

So We Meet Again

Nobody thought that the rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard would produce an emotional roller coaster and Fight of the Year front-runner.

But it did, and we’re all better for having seen it.

It also opens up a whirlwind of questions entering Saturday night’s main event. Top of mind for me is just how much of Maynard’s performance at UFC 125 will carry over to Saturday.

The rematch produced one of the rare instances in MMA when a 10-7 round could be argued, as Maynard clubbed Edgar with a left hook roughly 90 seconds in and proceeded to drop the champion to the mat seven more times.

It got to the point where you were almost uncomfortable watching Edgar wobble around the cage on spaghetti legs, sensing the next strike Maynard landed would be his last.

But, Edgar narrowly kept his wits about him, weathered the storm and proceeded to string together a furious rally en route to the split draw finish.

So, let’s say Maynard happens to crack Edgar’s chin yet again on Saturday. It’s not out of the question given the challenger’s power, but if déjà vu creeps up for Maynard, how will he react?

Pacing is among the most crucial ingredients in prepping for a 25-minute title fight, and coupled with the nerves of the bout, it’s not out of the question that Maynard was emotionally and physically spent after not being able to put away Edgar in that opening round.

What transpired over the following four rounds proved as much, as Maynard’s unflappable wrestling was shut down by the smaller Edgar, who even scored a couple takedowns of his own.

All this coming after the first bout between the two, which saw Maynard ragdoll Edgar for 15 minutes. If you saw Maynard snagging the win in the rematch, it probably involved him imposing his size advantage over Edgar like the first go-around.

So how much of what transpired in the rematch was a by-product of Maynard having little left in the tank after shooting his wad in the first round? Or how much was the constant fight-to-fight evolution of Edgar?

Mind you, this is a champion whose performances were night and day in the two fights with B.J. Penn.

As staggering as the developments were in his two wins over Penn, is it out of the question that Edgar made the necessary adjustments after getting dominated by Maynard once already?

To be truthful, I’m not sure there’s an answer.

Saturday should hopefully give us one.

Can Kenny Florian Rise to the Occasion…for Once?

Let’s be honest, when your boss comes out and admits to the public that you choke in big fights, there’s a problem there.

Kenny Florian is mere days away from the third title fight of his UFC tenure. His third title bout in a run that spans two weight classes and is the fourth push at a title by The Ultimate Fighter alum.

Title losses to Sean Sherk and B.J. Penn, plus a third campaign for the 155-pound strap that was derailed by Gray Maynard, forced Florian’s hand to test the ranks of the fairly-unestablished featherweight division.

Making headway at 145 pounds proved an easy task for Florian, whose star power in a starless weight class gave him the benefit of needing just one fight—a UFC 131 win over Diego Nunes—to procure a title shot.

Say what you will about the merits of Florian getting the nod over someone like Chad Mendes, but business sense will prevail 10 times out of 10 in favor of someone with Florian’s tenure—as such, we have Saturday’s co-main event against 145-pound kingpin Jose Aldo.

It’s a bout that can help Florian shed the label of “choke artist,” while at the same time giving Aldo a fan-friendly opponent with a potential win helping restore some of the luster lost in his UFC 129 victory over Mark Hominick, where the champion’s cardio faltered late and allowed a furious fifth-round rally by the challenger.

Top of mind here is to see how Florian’s size comes into the equation, and furthermore, how he can implement it as a means of adjusting should the going get tough against Aldo’s well-rounded, murderous arsenal.

Carving up the likes of Hominick, Urijah Faber and Mike Brown at range, Aldo’s sharp counters and pinpoint leg kicks are among the division’s best, and it’s a repertoire unlike anything Florian ever saw at 155 pounds.

Unfortunately for Florian, authoring where the fight takes place will be easier said than done, as Aldo’s takedown defense has shown to be stellar and Florian’s wrestling has never been one of his strong suits.

In the end, Florian’s a rightful underdog against the surging champion. The onus is on the challenger’s shoulders to convince the rest of the world otherwise.

Is Brian Stann Among the Elite at 185 Pounds?

When you think of the upward mobility at stake for some fighters on this card, surely few fighters have as much to gain as Brian Stann.

It wasn’t too long ago that the former WEC light heavyweight champ was catching a one-sided beating from Phil Davis that ended a rather lukewarm campaign at 205 pounds.

Since dropping to 185, Stann appears to have found his comfort zone, finishing all three of his middleweight tilts, each one in more impressive fashion than the last.

Saturday presents a stellar litmus test for what Stann’s potential at middleweight may be when he tangles with contender Chael Sonnen.

If there’s one thing about the UFC’s middleweight hierarchy, it’s hard to crack that division’s second tier. Look at the resumes of fighters like Yushin Okami, Sonnen, Demian Maia and, while he was employed, Nate Marquardt.

Besides wins over each other, you don’t see many fighters breaking into that 185-pound caste. The most recent exception would be someone like Mark Munoz, and even that came on the heels of a razor-thin decision victory over Maia.

Stann has the chance to forge his name among that company against Sonnen, who has plans of his own in punching his ticket to a rematch with champion Anderson Silva.

For Stann to break into the division’s elite tier, it’ll mean overcoming the stylistic woes that led to him dropping weight in the first place. Losses to Davis and Krzysztof Soszynski saw the former Marine grounded with ease and, in the case of the latter, submitted.

Sonnen doesn’t pack much of a submission game but is as grueling a top control player as there is in all of MMA. His takedowns are every bit as imposing as what Stann saw at 205, and the ability to keep the action upright is perhaps Stann’s only fleeting hope in this bout.

Should he do that, Sonnen’s striking never gets past an active smattering of one-twos and leg kicks, but defensively, he took plenty of shots from Silva and didn’t falter in the slightest.

If it’s one thing Stann has showcased at 185, it’s his power, demonstrated in zapping Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.

Adding Sonnen’s name to that mantle would go a long way toward bringing Stann within one win of a title bout, perhaps in a No. 1 contenders tilt with Munoz, should he best Leben at UFC 138.

As for Sonnen, I’m not buying what Dana White’s selling for a second. If Chael cloaks Stann to a decision win, he’s getting his rematch with Silva, plain and simple.

One Fight Away?

When the dust settles, and either Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard proclaim the UFC lightweight championship, it’ll go a ways toward clearing up a contendership logjam that’s nearing one year old.

The rest of the 155-pound division has been clamped shut while Maynard and Edgar handle their business, and as such, it’s built up a plethora of contenders with logical cases for the next title shot.

Perhaps the winner of November’s Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson bout will be able to stake the most rightful claim as we’ve seen, or maybe the impending arrival of Strikeforce lightweight kingpin Gilbert Melendez will hold sway.

And then there’s Melvin Guillard, who has resurrected his career upon training with Greg Jackson’s camp and rattled off five straight victories upon rejoining the UFC.

Initially thought of as just another slate of wasted talent, Guillard looks to be in the midst of harnessing that potential and has molded himself into one of the division’s most formidable contenders.

A win over Joe Lauzon Saturday night would make Guillard 9-1 since 2008, with wins over Evan Dunham and Dennis Siver sticking out.

Let’s say Guillard wins in decisive fashion, stopping Lauzon inside of two rounds. Couple that with the winner of Guida vs. Henderson and Melendez’s arrival to the promotion, and that’s three potential contenders for the title.

Unfortunately, settling the score between Maynard and Edgar has left the title picture stagnant for a year, and once a winner between those two is determined, I don’t think the UFC is going to want to wait another 10 months for its lightweight championship to be defended.

The division needs to make up for lost time, so I’d anticipate seeing the winner of Saturday’s main event back in action in a fairly timely manner, health pending.

My guess would be that of the aforementioned contenders, two are pitted against each other while the third receives an immediate title shot.

I think whoever fills those roles depends on performance.  If you win and you look impressive doing so, it’ll only strengthen your case. If you eke out a lackluster decision, then things get a bit more dicey.

It ups the stakes tremendously for a slew of lightweight tilts this fall, starting with Guillard’s clash with Lauzon.