UFC 136 Fight Card: Aldo Will Floor Florian to Defend Featherweight Title

The fight for the lightweight championship belt between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard may be the most hotly anticipated bout on the main card at UFC 136, but it isn't necessarily the most intriguing.

That distinction belongs to the other title fight on the docket—the battle for the featherweight championship between Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian.

"Junior" is arguably one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts today, with an outstanding standup game that's so good and has been put to such effective use that you'd hardly even know he could grapple on the ground.

Yet, Aldo is as good as anyone in his division when the match hits the mat. His jiu-jitsu is gorgeous, as is his takedown defense, and he can really mix it up in just about any and every phase of fighting.

"Ken-Flo," though, presents a very unique challenge to Aldo. Florian had spent most of his career as a lightweight, competing twice for the title in that division, before cutting down to 145 pounds, presumably in pursuit of one last shot at glory.

That experience competing with bigger, stronger and heavier fighters should serve Florian well, as he now finds himself playing the role he so often went up against.

Like Aldo, Florian is predominantly a striker, preferring instead to stay on his feet. That figures to serve as something of a disadvantage for Florian, given Aldo's superb standup skills and the blinding speed with which he puts them to good use.

That being said, Florian's lightweight pedigree, and the toughness that comes with it, should enable him to stand in against and survive most any assault Aldo flings his way.

The real wild card here lies on the ground. Aldo hasn't been tested much on the mat, and while Florian may very well find himself outmatched down low, that may be his best bet to pull out a win if he can't stay stead on his feet.

Florian would do well to watch tape of Aldo's escape against Mark Hominick at UFC 129 to see how to hang tough with the brilliant Brazilian on the judges' scorecards. Granted, Hominick lost by unanimous decision, but he managed to make the fight a close one in the end after withstanding an early onslaught from Aldo.

Hominick was able to wear Aldo out a bit and climb back on the cards, scoring points with the judges by way of landing loads of seemingly innocuous blows to get the judges' attention.

Realistically, though, Aldo is just too powerful, too fast and too good all around to surrender his belt to Florian. This one won't be easy, but look for Aldo to extend his personal winning streak to 13 with some devastating strikes and a thrilling takedown or two to boot.