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
Frankie Edgar -140 favorite over Gray Maynard +110
Jose Aldo -320 favorite over Kenny Florian +240
Chael Sonnen -260 favorite over Brian Stann +200
Melvin Guillard -400 favorite over Joe Lauzon +300
Nam Phan -210 favorite over Leonard Garcia +165
Main Card Predictions:
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard: Edgar has one professional loss and that loss is to Maynard. Edgar was absolutely dominated by Maynard in the first round of their bout at UFC 125. I think Maynard took more away from that fight than Edgar did as far as knowing what he needs to correct to come back and get the victory. I’ll look for Maynard to use his strength to do more of what he did in the first round of the UFC 125 bout, wrestling and ground and pound will earn the win for Maynard. Maynard by unanimous decision
 Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian: Florian gets credit for doing whatever he has to do to get a shot at any UFC title, but the featherweight title is not going to leave Houston with him. Florian has predicted that he will leave the cage bloody on Saturday and I do believe he is correct in that assumption, as he cannot match the striking prowess of the champ. – Aldo by TKO in the Third Round.
Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann:  Stann has claimed he has the strength to knock out Chael Sonnen. He has also claimed that Sonnen does not offer him anything he hasn’t seen before and while both of those things are true, seeing what Sonnen brings and experiencing it are two different things. Sonnen has great wrestling skills and if he can get Stann to the ground he can control him and grind out the win. – Sonnen by unanimous decision.
 Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon: After struggling with consistency Guillard looks like he has finally pulled everything together into a pretty solid package, winning eight of his last nine, with the last two of those coming via KO and TKO. Lauzon is 10-3 in his last 13, so he’s no slouch, as his five straight Fight Night Bonuses can attest. My feeling is that Guillard’s striking will prove to be too much for Lauzon. – Guillard by second round TKO
 Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan: The last time these two fought some said that the decision that went Garcia’s way was one of the worst in UFC history. It’s no secret that Garcia likes to come in and just swing away and that crazy style gets him points. That style is no secret to Phan at this point so I think he exploits that and moves in as Garcia leaves himself open, earning the win by using Garcia’s aggression against him. Phan by unanimous decision.
Being a few days removed from UFC 135, it’s time to take a look back at what turned out to be the UFC’s third highest attended event of 2011. The fight card, which took place at Denver’s Pepsi Center, drew a crowd of 16,344 for a live gate of $2.1 million. The two cards that drew more were UFC 129, held in Toronto’s Rogers Centre and UFC 127, held in Sydney, Australia, which drew 18,186 fans.
Heading into the event, there were some that questioned UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. They said that he had never been tested, that he had never faced adversity. Those same people said that Jones had never really faced a top-level opponent that was 100% healthy. Sure, he had faced Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128, but, in the words of Jones’ opponent on Saturday night, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Rua had been “rusty as hell,” after coming off knee surgery.
Going into the fight Jackson said he had never trained harder in his career than he did in preparation for Jones. The former UFC light heavyweight champion exuded confidence leading up to the fight, proclaiming for all to hear that he was going to get “his” belt back at UFC 135.
He didn’t.
Jones dominated the fight from start to finish, never allowing Jackson to land any “bungalows.” Even when Jackson was close enough to deliver, he failed to act, saying after the fight that he had been “mesmerized” by Jones. High praise from a fighter that had been in 40 professional MMA bouts before facing Jones.
If Rampage was Jones’ test, he aced the test, making Jackson look like an amateur that had no business being in the cage with the champion. The downside of Jones’ performance is that he made it look so easy on Saturday some will see his win as being against an aging fighter with little to offer, rather than an Anderson Silva like dominating performance.
In short, Jackson was not that bad, Jones was that good.
In the co-main event Josh Koscheck proved to be too much for UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes. Early on Hughes looked solid, attacking Koscheck’s eye, much like Georges St-Pierre did when he defeated Koscheck at UFC 124. In that fight, St-Pierre jabbed his way to victory, leaving Koscheck with a badly damaged orbital bone.
Hughes had the advantage until late in the first round when Koscheck caught him and sent him tumbling to the ground. Once on the ground, Koscheck sealed the victory with repeated hammerfists, which put Hughes out with only one second remaining in the round.
Another fighter who delivered on Saturday was Nate Diaz. Diaz, had dropped his last two bouts at welterweight, so he dropped to lightweight for UFC 135, facing PRIDE legend Takanori Gomi. Diaz, in the words of UFC commentator Joe Rogan, delivered the best fight of his career, dispatching Gomi via first round submission.
MMA fans in Denver waited a long time for the UFC to return to the Mile High City, and while the event did not deliver anything truly unexpected, the fans that packed the Pepsi Center got their money’s worth. Now they just have to convince the UFC to shorten the wait for the next event.
 UFC 135 will take place this Saturday in Denver. In the main event UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones puts his title on the line against former PRIDE and UFC champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Jones captured the title at UFC 128 in March of this year, defeating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in impressive fashion. Jones’ performance in that bout left many referring to the 23-year-old fighter as the future of the UFC. Lofty praise indeed, but before Jones can truly begin his ascent to that level he will need to get past the veteran and some would say legend that is Rampage Jackson.
Jackson has no intention of letting Jones walk through him at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Saturday, claiming on more than one occasion that he will be getting “his” belt back from Jones on Saturday night. Jackson held the UFC light heavyweight title from May 2007 through July 2008. Jackson captured the title with a first round knockout of Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. He defended the title once, defeating Dan Henderson via unanimous decision before losing the crown to Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision.
When Jones steps into the Octagon, he will bring with him a career record of 13-1, with his only loss coming via disqualification for illegal 12-to-6 elbows during his December 2009 bout with Matt Hamill. Jones has only gone the distance in two fights during his career and earned unanimous decision wins in both of those contests.
Jackson has been at the fight game a long time, making his MMA debut in 1999 when his UFC 135 opponent was just 12 years old. Since then he has put together a career record of 32-8, going 7-2 since joining the UFC in 2007. Jackson’s two losses were to Rashad Evans and Griffin. Jackson is currently riding a two-fight winning streak, defeating Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill by decision.
The co-main event on the card will feature Matt Hughes versus Josh Koscheck in a bout that will see both fighters returning to the cage after taking time off after losses. Hughes will be back in the Octagon for the first time since losing to BJ Penn via a 21 second knockout in November 2010.
Koscheck has not fought since losing to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in December 2010. Koscheck suffered a broken orbital bone during the course of that bout, an injury that ultimately required surgery.
Main Card Odds: 9:00 p.m. ET on Pay Per View
Jon Jones (-485) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (+385)
Matt Hughes (+355) vs. Josh Koscheck (-455)
Rob Broughton (+295) vs. Travis Browne (-365)
Nate Diaz (-260) vs. Takanori Gomi (+210)
Mark Hunt (+250) vs. Ben Rothwell (-350)
Spike TV Preliminary Fight Card: 8:00 p.m. ET
Tony Ferguson (-350) vs. Aaron Riley (+275)
Tim Boetsch (-160) vs. Nick Ring (+130) Preliminary Fight Card: UFC facebook page
On Wednesday, September 7 the UFC held a press conference for UFC 137’s main event, Georges St-Pierre versus Nick Diaz. When the participants took to the stage, there was St-Pierre, UFC president Dana White and an empty chair. White wasted no time in detailing the fact that Diaz had gone missing and as a result Carlos Condit would replace him, facing St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title.
In a matter of minutes, Diaz went from fighting St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight title to having his future with the promotion put into doubt. During his time at the podium White stopped short of saying that Diaz would be released from the organization, but he did make his unhappiness with the fighter known.
On Thursday night, White let his followers on twitter know that Diaz had been spared from the UFC chopping block and that he would remain on the card with a new opponent, the fighter that was originally set to face Carlos Condit:
This is crazy but here we go again! You wanted it so you got it. Penn vs Diaz Oct 27th in Vegas
White quickly corrected the date on his tweet:
I meant Oct 29th
That Diaz would stay with the organization after causing such an uproar says a great deal about his worth to the promotion. It’s hard to fathom White being so forgiving to many other fighters, but as White is wont to say, “it is what it is” and Diaz has been given another chance.
It’s very likely that this will be his last chance with the promotion and it makes one wonder if Diaz can overcome being his own worst enemy.
When he fought for Strikeforce Diaz’s quirks were forgiven and perhaps even encouraged, for he was the big draw for the promotion. With the UFC, Diaz is just another fighter and he must, as White has asked him to do, “play the game,” just a little bit.
Diaz’s manager, Cesar Gracie, was far from forgiving of Diaz going missing between Tuesday and Wednesday, but when speaking to MMAFighting.com, he did offer his take on why Diaz failed to appear for UFC press duties, “He doesn’t feel comfortable being around people,” Gracie said. “He has a very deep ingrained social anxiety, and it’s something he probably needs help for, I think. I think that’s why he self-medicates himself with the marijuana. That’s my amateur opinion.”
If Gracie is on the mark with his self described amateur opinion, could that explain Diaz’s boorish behavior? Can Diaz only find comfort in the few minutes he is physically engaged in a fight? Is everything else posturing and posing, to hide the social anxiety that he is suffering from?
Honestly, only Nick Diaz can answer those questions and the odds are against that ever happening. The fact remains that if Diaz does ever want to climb to the level of top contender, he’ll need to take a look inside himself and overcome whatever issues that are holding him back from “playing the game.”
None of this is meant to say that what Diaz did earlier this week was excusable, for there is no excuse for his actions. However, if Diaz truly does suffer from severe social anxiety disorder, to simply dismiss him as “crazy” or “screw up” is just as unforgiveable and shortsighted.
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.
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.
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
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.
