Houston, We Have A TKO!

Houston, we have a TKO!

On Saturday October 8th 2011, at UFC 136 Frankie Edgar (14-1-1) retained his UFC Lightweight Championship against Grey Maynard (11-1-1-1NC) via fourth round TKO revenging the only blemishes on his record.

After taking a beating which was eerily similar to their classic second encounter, Edgar exhibited why he is the Rocky Balboa of the UFC and defended his title in convincing fashion at 3:54 seconds of the fourth round.

During a scramble, Edgar was able to hurt Maynard with an uppercut sending him backpedaling to cage. A huge right hook followed sending Maynard to the floor where the champion pounced on his wounded opponent leaving him face first on the floor after some ground and pound. The out of nowhere finish, not only allowed Edgar to keep his championship but also resulted in the Knockout of the Night bonus.

The victory was sweet and satisfying for the two time defending champion, but did not come without it's fair share of drama. The first round was essentially a carbon copy of January's bout as Maynard bloodied and dropped Edgar with uppercuts and knees. Maynard remained composed and did not punch himself out, but ultimately enabled Edgar's incredible recovery powers to shine through.

Edgar's heart and refusal to lose once again kept him standing. Mixed in with impeccable movement, the champion was able to remain unpredictable with in and out combinations as he slowly but surely took over the fight. The champion fought relaxed and in rhythm, as Edgar's speed left Maynard mesmerized and fighting air.

The result was devastating for the challenger Maynard, as he once again had the championship within his grasps. Maynard was the much larger fighter entering the Octagon and had the champion badly hurt in two consecutive fights, but was unable to get the job done. Although he made adjustments and remained disciplined during his first round blitz, he appeared too calm and relaxed not wanting to punch him self out again.

On top of that, Maynard abandoned his wrestling opting instead to look for the one punch knockout which he was unable to land. Maynard blew a big opportunity in this fight and it resulted in his first ever career loss to a man he should have beaten three times and sends him back home without the championship belt.

In the Co-Main Event of the evening, Jose Aldo (20-1) defended his Featherweight Championship against Kenny Florian (16-6) via Unanimous Decision (49-46 on all Judges score cards.)

The fight was a chess match and every round besides the third, which was dominated by Aldo was very close. Heading into the fifth round, I had the bout even at two rounds a piece and I felt whoever won the final round would walk away the champion.

The round started off competitive but a Florian slip off of a missed head kick allowed Aldo to gain top control on the ground, where most of the time was spent. Although not a lot of damage was inflicted, Aldo did what needed to be done in order to retain his championship.

In all likelihood, Kenny Florian will not receive any more title opportunities in his UFC career, as he is now 0-3 in Championship fights. Despite being a master strategist and applying a lot of pressure upon the champion, Florian was largely unsuccessful at taking and keeping Jose Aldo down on the ground. In addition to this, an interesting note is that in every fight Kenny Florian was unable to secure a takedown, he has lost.

Aldo was prepared for the takedown's and beautifully defended several attempts by the challenger. Even though, the bout was not the most exciting display of action by the champion, Aldo still proved he is one of the most destructive strikers in all of MMA and landed numerous powerful leg kicks which left Florian's thigh battered and bruised.

Even though UFC 136 featured two title fights, for many the most intriguing match up of the night was the Middleweight title eliminator bout and the return of the most outspoken and quotable man in MMA history, Chael Sonnen.

The contest between Sonnen (27-11-1) and “The All American” Brian Stann (11-4) was a true rebel vs. hero matchup. However, the bout was completely one sided as Sonnen delivered a red, white and blue ass-whipping to the former marine.

Outside of the cage, Sonnen is as looney as they come but inside he is a no nonsense ass kicker. As soon as the opening bell rang, Sonnen smothered Stann taking him to the ground with his powerful double leg takedown. From here it was vintage Sonnen, as he allowed Stann no space and controlled him on the ground with a grinding pace and ground and pound like no other.

Stann was simply outclassed and eventually tapped out to an arm-triangle choke in the second round, giving Sonnen his fourth ever career victory via submission. Sonnen won this fight in dominating fashion resulting in a triumphant return for the self proclaimed “people's champion.”

What followed next, was without a doubt the holy s*@! moment of the night. During the post fight interview, with his Brazilian rival at cage side and the crowd chanting the Middleweight champions name, loud mouthed Uncle Chael returned saying “Anderson Silva you absolutely suck!”

It was at this point, with the entire audience in the palm of his hand that Sonnen went all pro-wrestling and upped the stakes of their rematch to essentially a loser leaves town match. Silva seemed intrigued at the odds which would require Silva to leave the devision for good if Sonnen won and would require Sonnen to leave the UFC for good if Silva won.

The fight would be contested during the mega Super Bowl weekend event in February and had Dana White tweet “Shit just GOT REAL!!!!!!”

In other main card news, the Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia rematch received fight of the night. Phan won a unanimous decision and revenged his controversial loss to Garcia earlier in the year.

These two featherweights left off right where their first fight ended and was nonstop action from bell to bell. Phan used body shots combinations, throwing punches in bunches as Garcia threw wild haymakers. The crowd was on their feet and loud in support of these two brawlers and had Joe Rogan proclaim that the fight was “what MMA is all about!”

As much as I love highly disciplined and technical fighters, Leonard Garcia is the exception and I love watching him fight. One of the most exciting fighters to ever step foot inside of the Octagon, Garcia leaves it all out there and throws big powerful wild punches. His heart and fighting spirit is great and if you're a fight fan, you have to love the man. The fight was extremely fun and I would not mind seeing these two fight once a year every year!

The opening bout of the evening, featured the upset of the night as the red hot Melvin Guillard took on Joe Lauzon.

Guillard who had a definitive speed and power advantage was submitted by Lauzon in .47 of the first round via rear naked choke.

Guillard took the center of the Octagon guns blazing but was careless and was caught with a left hook which hurt him. From here it was fundamental as Lauzon took Guillard's back and locked in the hooks, flattened him out and forced Guillard to tap out to a rear naked choke.

The contest derailed Guillard's dreams of a title shot but earned Lauzon the submission of the night bonus.

For the undercard fights, Anthony Pettis displayed improved wrestling as he defeated Jeremy Stephens via split decision to earn his first ever UFC victory. Damien Maia was also in action as he handed the former Sengoku Middleweight Champion Jorge Santiago his second consecutive loss within the UFC.

That wraps up UFC 136, as both champions retain their titles and a Middleweight Championship war is on the horizon. The UFC returns in three weeks, for UFC 137 as Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre defends his championship against Carlos Condit and B.J. Penn returns to take on Nick Diaz.

Fight of the Night – Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia
Knockout of the Night – Frankie Edgar
Submission of the Night- Joe Lauzon

Results:
Frankie Edgar defeats Grey Maynard via TKO at 3:54 of Round 4 to RETAIN UFC Lightweight Championship
Jose Aldo defeats Kenny Florian via Unanimous Decision to RETAIN UFC Featherweight Championship
Chael Sonnen defeats Brian Stann via Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 3:51 of Round 2
Nam Phan defeats Leonard Garcia via Split Decision
Joe Lauzon defeats Melvin Guillard via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at .47 of Round 1
Damien Maia defeats Jorge Santiago via Unanimous Decision
Anthony Pettis defeats Jeremy Stephens via Split Decision
Stipe Miocic defeats Joey Beltran via Unanimous Decision
Darren Elkins defeats Zhang Tie Quan via Unanimous Decision
Aaron Simpson defeats Eric Schafer via Unanimous Decision
Mike Massenzio defeats Steve Cantwell via Unanimous Decision