UFC 136 was one of the more exciting fight cards of the year, with two UFC titles being defended, a middleweight contender calling out the champion in, ahem, blunt language, a UFC striking record being set and a lightweight contender being derailed.

Let’s take a quick look back at the event that took place on October 8 from Houston, Texas’ Toyota Center.

The first fight on the pay per view card pitted Melvin Guillard against Joe Lauzon. Guillard was the favorite in this fight, racking up five consecutive wins and hearing his name whispered as being on the short list of possible contenders for the lightweight crown. His opponent, Joe Lauzon, was no slouch, going 4-3 in his last seven fights, but capturing Fight Night bonuses in six of those seven fights, a fact that Guillard may have overlooked while preparing for Lauzon.

Guillard started the fight with his hands held low, and Lauzon only needed a split second to find an opening buckling Guillard with a left. Guillard then went to the ground and Lauzon wasted no time getting the hooks in and quickly working a rear naked choke and just like that Guillard’s run through the lightweight division came to a screeching halt.

The next fight was a rematch of a bout that took place in December 2010.  In a fight that many considered the worst decision of the year, Leonard Garcia was awarded split decision win over Nam Phan. The fight at UFC 136 was very similar with Garcia throwing every punch like he was going for the knockout. Phan, knowing that those punches were coming delivered more of a technical performance, earning the unanimous decision victory.

During the course of the win, Phan landed 174 significant strikes, breaking the record that Chris Lytle held when he defeated Matt Serra at UFC 119.

The next fight was a middleweight scrap between Chael Sonnen and Brian Stann.  Sonnen, coming back to the Octagon after a 14 month absence showed no signs of cage rust. Sonnen dominated the fight using his wrestling and ground and pound skills over the less experienced Stann. The end came when Sonnen used arm triangle choke, forcing Stann to tap.

Following the victory, Sonnen called out Anderson Silva, the UFC middleweight champion who was sitting cage side. Sonnen requested a fight where if he won, Silva would leave the middleweight division, if Silva won, Sonnen would leave the UFC

Alas, the fight may not be able to take place as Silva is still recovering from an injury that he sustained while training for his UFC 134 fight against Yushin Okami, a fight Silva won via second round TKO.

The first title fight saw featherweight champion Jose Aldo defend his title against Kenny Florian. Florian proved himself a game opponent in his third UFC title shot, but he was unable to overcome one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world in Aldo.  After the fight, a dejected Florian would not speculate what the future held for his UFC career.

The main event featured a lightweight title bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. The two fighters had met twice before UFC 136, with Maynard taking the first fight via unanimous decision. The second fight, for the title that Maynard had wrested from BJ Penn, ended in a draw after Edgar weather a brutal first round that had Maynard ahead 10-8.

Early in their bout at UFC 136 things looked pretty even until halfway through the round Maynard tagged Edgar with an uppercut and followed that up with a knee that hurt Edgar. Edgar looked like he was on the road to recovery when he was dropped by Maynard, who looked to end the fight, something he was unable to do.

Maynard seemed tentative in the second round and third rounds allowing the champion to recover and get back in the fight.  When the fourth round started, Edgar had evened out a huge strike count deficit and arguably had taken control of the fight.

Edgar took complete control of the fight in the fourth round, landing an uppercut at 1:13 of the round that staggered Maynard against the cage. The champion then followed up Maynard and put him to the ground landing several heavy punches that forced the referee to call the stoppage at 3:54 of the round.

Following the bout, UFC president Dana White proclaimed Edgar the second best pound for pound fighter in the UFC, behind only Anderson Silva.

Rotoinfo Awards:

Submission of the Night: Joe Lauzon

Fight of the Night: Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

WWE Moment of the Night: Chael Sonnen’s loser leave town challenge of Anderson Silva

Knockout of the Night: Frankie Edgar

Biggest Loser of the Night: Melvin Guillard

Biggest Winner of the Night: Frankie Edgar