Chael Sonnen Will Stand Tall and Take Down Brian Stann at UFC 136

The lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard will be great, as will the featherweight championship bout between Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian.

But if you're looking for some big time, heavy-hitting mixed martial arts action at UFC 136 in Houston Saturday, then look no further than the middleweight matchup between Chael Sonnen and Brian Stann.

The winner of this fight figures to be next in line to get whooped by battle Anderson Silva for the middleweight championship; which is to say, Sonnen will have another shot at "The Spider" wrapped up by Sunday morning.

By no means will Sonnen be the fan favorite at the Toyota Center. He's coming off a 14-month "break" in which he served a suspension for failing a post-fight drug test after his loss to Silva and getting mixed up in a money laundering scandal.

Stann, on the other hand, will tug at every American's heart strings. A graduate of the US Naval Academy and a former linebacker for the Midshipmen, the Marine was awarded the Silver Star for his valiance in the face of battle in Iraq and has since worked his way into a respectable mixed martial artist.

Unfortunately for Stann, the judges don't award points for sentimentality. Sonnen is a good, but not great, standup fighter, which could prove to be a problem if Stann is somehow able to dictate the terms of the fight. Stann has excellent strength on his feet and is emerging as one of the best strikers in the middleweight division.

That being said, Sonnen's stamina, his takedowns and, most importantly, his superb wrestling will allow him to take control of an opponent like Stann, whose ground game leaves much to be desired.

Sonnen has demonstrated a distinct susceptibility to submissions in the past, but luckily for him, Stann isn't the type to take the fight to the mat.

Sonnen is just too strong and too skilled in transitioning between strikes and takedowns to let Stann stand him up. As great a story as Stann is for the UFC, Sonnen will rule the evening with a steady diet of ground-and-pound to earn a rematch with Anderson Silva.