HOUSTON, TX, July 15, 2011 – We’re still a few months out from the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event in Downtown Houston since UFC 69 but excitement is already building for the UFC 136 event scheduled for the Toyota Center and to coincide with a two-day UFC Expo at the nearby George R. Brown Convention Center.
Today the promotion released many of the fights expected to be the October 8th event, including two highly-anticipated title bouts to ensure this will be yet another Texas-sized event for the world’s leading fight promotion.
Leading the way as the main event of the evening is the rubber match between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard for Frankie’s lightweight title. The two last battled in a thrilling New Year’s Day matchup at UFC 125 that resulted in a majority draw. In that matchup between the two wrestlers, Maynard almost put Edgar away with a dominating first-round performance only to see an equally impressive Edgar battle back and win the last few en route to the finish. With the two originally slated to fight at UFC 130 before injuries took their toll on both men, look for this series to finally reach its conclusion in Houston with the result being the world’s undisputed lightweight champion.
The UFC 136 co-main event will feature a championship defense by a man widely known to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in featherweight kingpin José Aldo. Coming off a ‘fight of the night’ performance at UFC 129 against a resilient Mark Hominick, the highly-touted Brazilian will look to prove his dominance this time around against his toughest opponent yet as he takes on Boston native Kenny Florian. The 14-5 Fen-Flo recently debuted in the 145 weight class at UFC 131 against Aldo’s Nova Uniao teammate Diego Nunes, winning by decision and fast-tracking him to his showdown against Aldo as he seeks his first world title.
Next up is an All-American matchup sure to excite the crowd in attendance and those watching on PPV as USMC veteran
Brian “The Man” Stann puts it all on the line against the tough-taking Chael Sonnen, who returns to the cage after a year of inactivity and a slew of scandals including an FBI invenstigation, a mortgage fraud trial, and a PED controversy after his last bout with Anderson Silva. One has to wonder what kind of talk will lead to this bout as Sonnen has displayed all kinds of respect for Stann as opposed to everything he’s thrown at Silva and other fighters as of late. Let’s not count on Sonnen being entirely quiet leading up to this bout as he’ll no doubt try to make things exciting in and out of the cage.
Also on the UFC 136 card is former Houstonian Melvin Guillard. “The Young Assassin” lobbied hard in order to fight in his former home and he got his wish in the form of what should be an exciting matchup with Joe Lauzon. Melvin heads into this bout with five straight wins, including impressive finishes over Evan Dunham and Texas’ own Shane Roller a few weeks ago at UFC 132. While he’s not calling for it, many are already clamoring for Guillard to be included in the mix for lightweight title contention. Look for him to try to put on an exciting performance for the Houston crowd either way.
Aside from the top four fights mentioned above, the rest of the UFC card is looking stacked as well.
Top submission ace Demian Maia will be making his return from his last entertaining performance versus Mark Munoz against former Sengoku champion and returning UFC sophomore Jorge Santiago while former Bellator veteran and recent FOTN winner Dave Herman will mark his second UFC fight against heavyweight wrestler Mike Russow. Rounding of the card so far is a featherweight matchup between former would-be title contender Josh Grispi and Matt Grice along with “Showtime” Anthony Pettis taking on Jeremy Stephens.
What do you think, Texans? Looking forward to this one?
UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 – Houston, TX October 8, 2011
- Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (champion) vs. Gray Maynard
- Featherweight Championship bout: José Aldo (champion) vs. Kenny Florian
- Middleweight bout: Brian Stann vs. Chael Sonnen
- Heavyweight bout: Dave Herman vs. Mike Russow
- Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago
- Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard
- Lightweight bout: Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Featherweight bout: Josh Grispi vs. Matt Grice
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