Two titles up for grabs, the return of Chael Sonnen, a 100% Brazilian duel and the definition of a huge rivalry. With all these attractions, UFC 136 rocked the city of Houston, in the United States, this Saturday. In title fights, the champions Jose aldo, among the feathers, and Frankie Edgar, in the lightweight division, gave no chance to the challengers and defeated Kenny Florian e Gray Maynard, respectively. With the victories, Aldo defends his reign for the second time, while Edgar scores his third title defense. Already around Chael Sonnen to the UFC happened in style. The controversial fighter dominated Brian Stann and finished the fight with a hand triangle in the second round.
In a comeback, Edgar knocks out Maynard and defends his belt
It felt like a repeat of a movie, but this time with a different ending. Just like at UFC 125, Gray Maynard started the fight in an overwhelming way in the first round and scored two knockdowns on Frankie Edgar, who could barely stand due to the opponent's blows. But as in the first fight between them, which took place in January, Edgar recovered in the second round, and even without injury, he controlled the duel. After Frankie also won the third round, the expectation of a draw increased, but the champion did not want to give chance to bad luck and ended the fight. In the fourth round, the fight remained balanced and Edgar attempted a takedown that was well defended by Maynard, but when his opponent tried to get up, the champion applied a powerful uppercut, which led to his opponent being knocked down. Without wasting time, Frankie continued the punishment on the ground and forced the referee to end the duel, with a technical knockout being declared.
Without any fear, Aldo beats Florian and defends his belt
Jose aldo he really hasn't found any opponents in the featherweight division in the world. In the face of hard Kenny Florian, who has already competed for the UFC lightweight belt on two occasions, the Brazilian started the fight at a disadvantage, as the American controlled the first round well in the clinch. But from the second round onwards, the Tupiniquim athlete showed great movement and applied good variations of boxing strikes with low kicks. Aldo even surprised the American by reversing his opponent's takedown attempts and working well on top. At the end of 25 minutes, Jose aldo secured his second title defense via unanimous decision by the judges (49×46, 49×46, 49×46) and scored his 13th consecutive victory in MMA.
“He was playing on my mistake, so I had to contain my momentum a little, but next time I'll come back better,” said Aldo after the fight. “I defend takedowns very well. I knew he was going to try to keep me on the gridiron, I saw all his fights and I expected that”, added the champion.
In style, Sonnen submits Brian Stann and asks Anderson Silva
Chael Sonnen is back! Away from the UFC since August 2010, due to problems with doping and justice in his country, the controversial North American didn't give Brian Stann a chance and with his efficient wrestling he completely dominated the fight. Right at the beginning of the fight, Sonnen didn't want to take any chances with Stann's striking and immediately attacked his opponent's legs. With a lot of pressure on top, Chael controlled the entire first round without suffering any scares. In the second round, Sonnen showed that he has improved in jiu-jitsu and after applying a beautiful takedown to Brian, he passed guard and landed a tight triangle of hands, forcing three taps. After the duel, Sonnen sent his message to Anderson Silva, who watched the fight in the audience.
"Anderson Silva, you are a horrible piece of shit. I beat you that time (at UFC 117). I want you in the UFC Super Bowl (which takes place in February): If I win, you leave the middleweight division, but if you win, I leave the UFC forever”, said a confident Chael Sonnen.
After achieving this beautiful fall, Chael Sonnen submitted Brian Stann and asked for a fight against Anderson Silva
In a busy fight, Phan gets a rematch against Garcia
Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia had already faced each other in the TUF 12 Finale, and just like the first fight, the UFC fight was quite busy. With a good exchange of blows, Phan started better by unleashing several hard blows on Garcia, who ended up suffering a knockdown. In the second round, Nam, who has Vietnamese ancestry, continued to improve and punished Leonard, who was already showing fatigue. But as MMA is a sport without predictions, Garcia managed to land a powerful right that led to his opponent being knocked down. The former WEC fighter tried to leave to end the punishment on the ground, but Phan managed to take it and hold on to the result until the bell sounded. In the end, Nam Phan won by unanimous decision from the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28).
Lauzon surprises favorite and submits Guillard
After six fights ending in decision on the preliminary card, in the first fight of the main program the North American Joe lauzon surprised the public and experts to achieve the first submission of the night. Facing Melvin Guillard, who was considered a strong favorite and had won five consecutive victories, “J-Lau”, as he is known, launched a beautiful counterattack after a sequence of blows from his opponent. Guillard felt it and lost his balance. A specialist in ground fighting, Lauzon soon got to the back, passed the hooks and secured a tight rear-naked choke to end the fight.
Demian Maia wins Brazilian duel against Jorge Santiago
In the 100% Brazilian duel, better for the black belt Demian Maia, who managed to impose his game against Jorge Santiago. The fight started with good movement on the feet, but willing not to take risks, Demian soon looked for the takedown and, even without working with hard strikes, he kept the fight on the ground throughout the first round. With an advantage on the scoreboard, Santiago tried to loosen the game in the second round, but was taken down again and dominated by Maia. The recipe in both rounds was repeated in the last part and Demian won the dispute with a unanimous decision from the judges. (30×27, 30×27, 30×27)
In the struggle, Pettis beats Stephens and wins his first UFC victory
After debuting in the UFC with a defeat, the former WEC champion, Anthony Pettis, achieved his first victory in Ultimate. In the face of hard Jeremy Stephens, “Showtime”, as he is known, as in his first fight, encountered many difficulties in the fight. Stephens started working with takedowns and pinning Pettis to the ground with overhead strikes. In the second round, it was Anthony's turn to surprise and take the duel to the ground. In the last and decisive round, the fight was very even, with both athletes having good moments. At the end of the regulatory 15 minutes, Pettis took the win in a split decision from the judges. (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)
First fights are in the hands of the judges
The first four fights of UFC 136 were hard work for the judges. In duels without great emotions, Mike massenzio defeated Steve Cantwell, Aaron Simpson defeated Eric Schafer, Darren Elkins defeated Tiequan Zhang and Stipe Miocic passed by Joey Beltran, all with the same result: unanimous decision by the judges
Check out the complete results from UFC 136
Main Card
Frankie Edgar derrotou Gray Maynard by technical knockout in R4 – Lightweight belt dispute;
Jose aldo derrotou Kenny Florian in the unanimous decision of the judges – Featherweight belt dispute;
Chael Sonnen submitted Brian Stann with a hand triangle in R2;
Nam Phan defeated Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision by the judges;
Joe lauzon submitted Melvin Guillard with a rear naked choke in R1;
Preliminary Card
Demian Maia derrotou Jorge santiago in the unanimous decision of the judges;
Anthony Pettis derrotou Jeremy Stephens in the judges' split decision;
Stipe Miocic defeated Joey Beltran via unanimous decision;
Darren Elkins defeated Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision;
Aaron Simpson defeated Eric Schafer via unanimous decision;
Mike massenzio defeated Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision;
Comments