UFC 136 review

A few things became clear at UFC 136. Frankie Edgar is an incredible fighter, Jose Aldo may be the Anderson Silva of featherweights and Chael Sonnen is the most entertaining fighter in the UFC.

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A few things became clear at UFC 136. Frankie Edgar is an incredible fighter, Jose Aldo may be the Anderson Silva of featherweights and Chael Sonnen is the most entertaining fighter in the UFC.

By Fergus Ryan

A few things became clear on Saturday night at UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Frankie Edgar is an incredible fighter, the lightweight division in the UFC is a shark tank, Jose Aldo may be the Anderson Silva of featherweights and Chael Sonnen is, start to finish, the most entertaining fighter in the UFC.

The main event was a re-run of the controversial draw Edgar and Maynard played out at UFC 125 on New Year’s Day. Edgar has his fans but his detractors have been questioning his validity as champion. His title shot with Penn was granted after it was offered to Maynard should he beat Kenny Florian decisively (at UFC118). Maynard didn’t so Edgar stepped up.

Edgar beat BJ Penn twice but more was made about Penn not fighting like the Penn of old and Edgar was installed the most underwhelming champion in the minds of a lot of critics. Then at UFC 125, Maynard, the only fighter to have beaten Edgar, battered the champion for the entire first round and may have been unlucky not to get a) a 10-7 round on the scorecards or b) a stoppage, having knocked Edgar down three times. Both outcomes would have crowned Maynard champion.

In the lead up to UFC 136, much had been made of Maynard’s size advantage and how Edgar doesn’t cut weight and should be at featherweight (145lbs). All of which was put into heavy rotation by the commentary team of Goldberg and Rogan during the first round as Maynard again battered Edgar bell to bell. But just like their first encounter, Edgar rallied to win the next two rounds. Maynard now looked like he was out of ideas – he’d thrown his best at Edgar and he was still standing.

I beat you, you leave the division,” Sonnen said to Silva. “You beat me; I’ll leave the UFC, forever.

Coming out for the fourth, Edgar was gaining momentum. Maynard was starting to flag. He couldn’t react to Edgar’s speed as well as the earlier rounds and got caught with an uppercut at a point of separation. Edgar pounced and followed up with vicious shots to get a decisive TKO win.

UFC boss Dana White was magnanimous in his praise of Edgar after the fight, comparing him to Rocky and Arturo Gatti.

“What he did out there tonight was amazing and he’s number two ‘pound for pound’ fighter in the world. I don’t give a shit what anyone says!” said White.

Really? Better than GSP, Jon Jones or Jose Aldo? Edgar is an incredibly talented fighter but he hasn’t exactly beaten the very best all through his career (Matt Veach, Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca are his three wins before becoming champion).

Nor has he cleaned out the UFC 155lb division. It could be argued that Maynard and Edgar aren’t even the top two lightweights at the UFC. If Edgar were to beat Clay Guida, Cowboy Cerrone, Ben Henderson and Gilbert Melendez to name but a few, then we can discuss his ‘pound for pound’ ranking.

The first fight of the night underlined what a shark tank the UFC lightweight division is. Melvin Guillard had been on a tear and looking forward to his title shot prior to Saturday, but nobody told Joe Lauzon, who blasted Guillard out of the Octagon in 47 seconds.

Guillard started off winging heavy bombs as warning shots. Lauzon didn’t seem to be in the mood to hang around and rocked Guillard with one of his first punches. He followed up with some slick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to win by rear naked choke.

Jose Aldo was too good for Kenny Florian in every area of their bantamweight title fight. He showed incredible takedown defence, was able to mount Florian the few times the fight hit the floor and Florian’s face showed how crisp and hard Aldo’s punches can be.

Florian cut a figure of pure dejection at the post fight press conference hanging his head after answering questions using the fewest words possible. You feel sympathy for Florian having competed in four weight classes and three unsuccessful title fights. The ‘nearly man’ tag weighs heavy round his neck. Jose Aldo was the wrong opponent for Florian to look to cement his legacy. A return to lightweight might be the only option other than retirement.

In the lead in to his first fight back since suspension, Chael Sonnen joked that he had caused so much trouble that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva had called in the marines, in the form of Brian Stann. Stann had looked powerful beating Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago by KO and was being considered the next fighter for a title shot at Anderson Silva.

Anderson Silva had to put up with some post-fight guff from rival Chael Sonnen on Saturday night

All Sonnen has talked about since coming within two minutes of beating Silva was a rematch, declaring himself to be the true champion. Sonnen proved that he wants it more as he looked awesome in dispatching Stann early in the second round. We know Sonnen is an elite level wrestler but he showed slick Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in locking in an arm triangle for the submission victory.

As awesome as Sonnen was in the O,ctagon, it was what he said that’ll be reported more. To a cheering crowd, Sonnen exclaimed: “Anderson Silva, you absolutely suck!”

He went on to issue a WWE style ‘loser leaves town’ challenge to Silva, who was sitting cage-side. “I beat you, you leave the division. You beat me; I’ll leave the UFC, forever.” At the post fight press conference, Sonnen continued his tirade.

“I’ve got plenty of money and I’ve got plenty of fame,” he said.

“I’m after 12lbs of gold. As far as I’m concerned, that belt is worth nothing more than a piece of tin while its around his waist. I am the true middleweight champion.”

Whether Sonnen is proved right or wrong when he meets Silva again, it is going to be very entertaining finding out.

UFC 136 Results:

Mike Massenzio defeated Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 29–28)
Aaron Simpson defeated Eric Schafer via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).
Darren Elkins defeated Zhang Tie Quan via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–26, 30–27).
Stipe Miocic defeated Joey Beltran via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 29–28).
Anthony Pettis defeated Jeremy Stephens via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).
Demian Maia defeated Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).
Joe Lauzon defeated Melvin Guillard via submission (rear naked choke) at 0:47 of round 1.
Nam Phan defeated Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).
Chael Sonnen defeated Brian Stann via submission (arm triangle choke) at 3:51 of round 2.
José Aldo defeated Kenny Florian via unanimous decision (49–46, 49–46, 49–46) to retain UFC Featherweight Championship.
Frankie Edgar defeated Gray Maynard via KO (punches) at 3:54 of round 4 to retain UFC Lightweight Championship.

Bonus awards: Fighters were awarded $75,000 bonuses.