UFC 136 Results: Jose Aldo Fortunate to Fend off Kenny Florian to Maintain Title

If it weren't for tampering rules, Jose Aldo would (and probably should) treat Douglas Crosby, Nelson Hamilton and Cecil Peoples—the judges from UFC 136—to a nice dinner, perhaps with a nice bottle of wine to thank them for allowing him to keep his featherweight championship belt.

With Aldo's less-than-stellar performance in the Octagon at the Toyota Center on Saturday night, they could have just as easily ruled in favor of Kenny Florian.

Aldo slogged his way through one of the toughest fights of his illustrious career in mixed martial arts against an opponent, in "Ken-Flo," that was in search of one final shot at a title after twice being denied in the lightweight division.

Florian came flying out of the gate, putting Aldo back on his heels with some strong strikes before the brilliant Brazilian bounced back. Aldo and Florian spent a good deal of the fight pinning each other against the cage, with Aldo sneaking in some punches to damage Florian's face.

According to CompuStrike, Florian actually finished the fight with more strikes landed (66) than did Aldo (55), though Aldo ended up with a higher success rate (51 percent to 40 percent) and far more power strikes than his opponent (39 to 9).

Where Florian really missed out, though, was in takedowns.

Florian was much more aggressive in attempting to get Aldo off his feet and onto the mat, with 14 attempts compared to just one for the champion. However, only twice out of those 14 times did Florian succeed, and at no time did he work his way into a dominant position.

Realistically, Florian would've needed at least another takedown or two to sway the judges' points more firmly in his favor.

That being said, Aldo was fortunate to escape from Houston with his belt still around his waist. Florian followed Mark Hominick's blueprint for near-success against Aldo, opting for barrages of "gentle" blows over devastating strikes to score points with the judges.

And, like Hominick, Florian came close, but no cigar.

That likely spells the end for Florian's title-fighting days in the UFC, though perhaps Aldo owes Ken-Flo something, too—a "Thank You" card for letting him keep his title, even amidst a subpar performance.