UFC 136 Results: PPV Fight by Fight Analysis

Adam ReiterOct 9, 2011

UFC 136 last night lived up to the pre-fight hype that it would be one of the best, if not the best card of the year. With even more stacked cards like UFC 139, 140, and the UFC on Fox debut all now less than two months away, last night was as delicious of an appetizer as there is to the main courses coming up.

Here is one more look back at the pay-per-view fights, and what's next for the fighters.

And, here we go.

Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard

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The last time the UFC had been in Houston before last night was UFC 69, when 6:1 underdog Matt Serra stunned Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre in the first round of their title fight.

Last night, 3:1 underdog Lauzon had his Serra-like moment, knocking off top contender Melvin Guillard by tapping him out less than a minute into their fight.

Guillard had entered the fight with talks of him being a possible No. 1 contender with what would have been a sixth straight win and ninth of his last 10 fights.

Lauzon won for the 11th time in 14 fights and posted his first wining streak since his wins over Kyle Bradley and Jeremy Stephens back in September of 2008 and February of 2009.

Lauzon rocked Guillard early, took his back and pulled off a beautiful rear naked choke, stunning Guillard and the Houston crowd.

What's Next

For Lauzon, a matchup with Anthony Pettis would make for an interesting bout to see who moves from the middle of that second tier to the top of the second tier/bottom of the first tier in what is currently a crowded group of lightweight contenders.

For Guillard, a rematch with Jeremy Stephens would make for a great fight as they battled to a split decision last September at UFC 119.

Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

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The fight of the night showed that both men know how to put on a very entertaining fight, but only when they face each other.

Leonard "Bad Boy" Garcia left himself open on so many occasions, it spoke very negatively about Nam Phan's ability to finish a fight.

Garcia's known for a very offensive style that turns many of his fights into slug-fests. However, on multiple occasions last night, Garcia showed signs of intense fatigue. He threw a number of strikes, many of them not connecting and dropped his head afterward. He left himself open, though Phan never pounced and went for the kill.

This fight bore an uncanny resemblance to Garcia's Fight of the Year performance last year with Chan Sung Jung, where both fighters showed little defense in a 15 minute slug-fest.

What's Next

Phan is in the middle of the pack of what is currently a not all that deep Featherweight division. Many people will be calling for a rubber match between the two men, as they are 1-1 against each other with two Fight of the Night performances.

Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann

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This recap will be quick: Sonnen dominated Stan and tapped him out with an arm triangle in the second round.

The bigger story was what Sonnen said (surprise, surprise) after the fight regarding Anderson Silva (surprise, surprise).

Sonnen ignored Joe Rogan's post-fight interview questions and immediately went after the middleweight champion with an "Anderson Silva, you SUCK!"

Sonnen then issued a challenge for a rematch between the two men the Saturday before the Super Bowl, but with the stakes raised from their August 2010 clash: If Sonnen wins, Silva must leave the middleweight division. If Silva wins, Sonnen will leave the UFC forever.

For everyone claiming that Sonnen is an idiot, keep the following things in mind: Were the fight to take place on Super Bowl weekend, Sonnen would be two months short of his 35th birthday. He has a solid 38 professional bouts under his belt, and even if he were to never compete in the UFC again, his world class wrestling makes him as crucial of a training partner as there is. He would make a great addition to any team out there. And worst case scenario, there is always Bellator.

What's Next

For Brian Stann, possible opponents include Demian Maia or the Chris Leben/Mark Munoz loser.

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Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

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Jose Aldo was not extremely impressive in his second UFC title defense over Kenny Florian.

He was taken down many times in the first round, as Florian easily controlled the round. Aldo came back and was able to control the final four rounds, but outside of one or two times where he stunned Florian, he did not look like someone considered to be the third best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Aldo, for the time being, is still the cream of the crop in the featherweight division, but does have work to do.

What's Next

Chad "Money" Mendes is likely the next challenger for Aldo's title. The two men were scheduled to fight at UFC 133, but Aldo was forced to take time off to recover from injuries suffered in his win over Mark Hominick in April.

For Florian, he has now fought in four different weight classes. He's fought for titles in two of them but never won. The 5'10'' Florian has always been a top notch fighter, except when it comes to big fights. Speculation will come from every direction on who his next fight will be with.

Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard

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The follow-up to the possible fight of the year was nothing short of spectacular.

Much like their last fight, Maynard pounded away on Edgar for the first round, then Edgar came back. This time, though, he was able to finish the fight in the fourth round with a beautiful fury of punches that knock Maynard silly.

After the fight, UFC president Dana White praised Edgar, claiming he was the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, behind only Anderson Silva.

What's Next

For Edgar, the winner of the November 12th bout between Ben Henderson and Clay Guida will likely be the next No. 1 contender.

For Maynard, possible opponents could be Joe Lauzon, Anthony Pettis and the Dennis Siver/Donald Cerrone winner.