In the mixed martial arts community, there’s perhaps no more prominent figure than the controversial Chael Sonnen.The former UFC middleweight title challenger returns to action against Brian Stann, who by stature alone has humbled the usually outspoken…
In the mixed martial arts community, there’s perhaps no more prominent figure than the controversial Chael Sonnen.
The former UFC middleweight title challenger returns to action against Brian Stann, who by stature alone has humbled the usually outspoken Sonnen.
The two contenders meet this weekend for UFC 136, which takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston Texas.
The pay-per-view event features a dual title clash, pitting rivals Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar against one another in order to determine the rightful ruler of 155 pounds, while champion Jose Aldo defends his belt against perennial contender Kenny Florian.
Both Sonnen and Stann possess the skills that can rival most men in their division, but where do they stand when opposite one another?
The anticipation is growing for this weekend’s UFC event, which goes down in Houston, TX, at the Toyota Center.It will feature the third matchup between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Edgar is 0-1-1 against his challenger, but…
The anticipation is growing for this weekend’s UFC event, which goes down in Houston, TX, at the Toyota Center.
It will feature the third matchup between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Edgar is 0-1-1 against his challenger, but their last fight ended in a draw and has left unfinished business between the two.
That won’t be the only title fight on the card.
In the co-main event, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo puts his title on the line against former lightweight title challenger Kenny Florian. Aldo made his UFC debut in March where he defeated Mark Hominick. Florian is 0-2 in title attempts and will look to capture his first belt against one of MMA‘s pound-for-pound best.
The main card, which will be broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on pay-per-view, will also feature Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann, Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard and Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan.
These are my predictions for fight, knockout and submission of the night.
Fight of the Night: Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens
Less than a year ago, former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (13-2) was in line for a shot at the UFC lightweight championship. If not for his loss to Clay Guida, he might have actually been in the main event on this card.
He takes on Jeremy Stephens (20-6), who was last seen beating up Danny Downes and knocking out Marcus Davis in his two 2011 bouts.
Both of these fighters bring intriguing challenges to the Octagon, and they are always in entertaining fights where they could be one punch or kick away from a victory.
Of Stephens’ seven UFC victories, four have been awarded fight bonuses.
Pettis was involved in one of 2010’s best fights versus Ben Henderson.
This fight will take place on the Spike TV portion of UFC 136, which will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on Spike TV.
Knockout of the Night: Jose Aldo
In his toughest title fight yet, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo (19-1) will defend his title for the second time against Kenny Florian (15-5), who has fought everywhere from middleweight to lightweight and now featherweight.
Aldo has 12 knockout victories to his credit, including those over Manvel Gamburyan, Mike Brown, Jonathan Brookins and Cub Swanson.
After going to a decision in his last fight, Aldo will probably want to make up for it by going for the finish early in this fight.
Florian was able to make it past Diego Nunes in his last bout, but he was dropped during the bout and may have been stopped had it not been for the bell. Nunes is nowhere near Aldo when it comes to striking, but he is unorthodox with kicks, something Aldo is a master at utilizing.
It might not come from one shot, but Aldo should be able to break Florian down and get the knockout sometime during the five round distance.
Submission of the Night: Zhang Tiequan
Zhang Tiequan is one of the best prospects to come out of China, and he brings a 15-1 record with 12 submission victories to the Octagon to take on Darren Elkins on the preliminary card this weekend.
Tiequan holds submission victories over Pablo Garza and Jason Reinhardt and has finished all of his opponents. He is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and trains under Black Tiger Team and China Top Team.
Elkins is 12-2 with only one of his losses coming by submission, which was against Charles Oliveira. That fight came before his controversial victory in his featherweight debut against Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 131.
A star-studded UFC 136 press conference on Wednesday will feature lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and No. 1 contender Gray Maynard, featherweight champion Jose Aldo and No. 1 contender Kenny Florian, and middleweights Chael Sonnen and Brian Stann. We’ll have them all live right here at MMAFighting.com.
The press conference will also feature UFC President Dana White, who will preside over the festivities at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The UFC 136 pre-fight press conference begins at 12 p.m. ET and the video is below.
This season of The Ultimate Fighter has been extremely entertaining, with the featherweight and bantamweight weight classes putting on great fights. The banter between coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been great as well, and it loo…
This season of The Ultimate Fighter has been extremely entertaining, with the featherweight and bantamweight weight classes putting on great fights.
The banter between coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been great as well, and it looks like the two will start to loathe each other more and more as the season goes on.
But as good as this season has been, there is still a little bit of wondering going through the minds of fans of “What could have been?”
That’s because the best trash talker in the UFC, Chael Sonnen, was originally set to coach opposite Bisping, but due to issues with the California State Athletic Commission, he was unable to commit to the show.
Sonnen is one of the fighters fans have been longing to see as a coach on the show, along with several others.
Here are five fighters who would be perfect coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.
Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen will square off in one of the most anticipated bouts of the year at UFC 136 in Houston, Texas on Saturday, October 8th.The winner will move on and face the world’s greatest fighter and UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Si…
Brian Stann and Chael Sonnen will square off in one of the most anticipated bouts of the year at UFC 136 in Houston, Texas on Saturday, October 8th.
The winner will move on and face the world’s greatest fighter and UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.
As both Stann and Sonnen have prepared for the opportunity to be the No. 1 contender, something has been missing:
Sonnen hasn’t said a word.
As we’ve seen in his preparation for previous bouts, Sonnen hasn’t been the least bit shy in announcing how he’s felt about his opponents. And, while many fans have been in shock of Sonnen’s silence, Stann’s not the slightest bit surprised.
In the UFC 136 Conference Call, Stann stated,
“I told everyone from the start I didn’t think it was going to happen. I believe Chael is very genuine when he says that, when he has a problem with someone he will speak it, when he doesn’t he won’t…
“It wasn’t surprising to me at all when that didn’t happen and I also wouldn’t have taken it personal anyway. I really believe our skill sets and the way we fight has generated all the hype it needs.”
While Sonnen has been nearly speechless leading up to their bout, he hasn’t hesitated from referring to himself as the middleweight champion of the world.
While this may be misleading to fans across the globe, Stann understands Sonnen’s mindset.
“I take it as a fighter who is mentally preparing himself to win a world title. If you constantly think and talk like you’re a champion, you feel like you’re a champion, then you go out there and fight like a champion”
Since entering the UFC in April of 2009, Stann has posted a mediocre 2-2 record in light heavyweight bouts. Knowing a change must be made, Stann dropped to the 185 weight class and began his career in the Middleweight division. He went on to win three consecutive fights via two technical knockouts and submission by arm triangle choke.
Stann has finally felt he is at the peak of his career and had much to say regarding his success.
“What happens in fighting is early in my career I had a very, very limited skill set. But, I was comfortable so I could fight at 100 miles per hour. Then when you go somewhere and your introduced to 1,000 different skills, you become okay at all of them.”
“Now, your trying to do way too much in the cage and now your fighting at 70 miles per hour. It took me some time but, when I began to get comfortable at all these new skills I began to fight at 100 miles per hour again.”
While a win over Stann would certainly give Sonnen his much desired rematch against Silva, he’s not necessarily looking forward to fighting Stann.
Sonnen was quoted by stating, “Nobody wants to fight Brian Stann.“
In regards to Sonnen’s respect, Stann stated,
“Coming from Chael who’s career leads back to when I was in high school, it means a lot. We’re talking about a guy who’s fought in all the major organizations, who’s fought everybody.”
“If he says something he means it, So it means a lot to me.”
A win over Sonnen would also mean a lot to Stann, as he will have earned his first shot at the UFC middleweight championship.
Chael Sonnen will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he faces Brian Stann this weekend at UFC 136. It will be Sonnen’s first fight back since his loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 119 one year ago. While usually known for belittling his …
Chael Sonnen will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he faces Brian Stann this weekend at UFC 136. It will be Sonnen’s first fight back since his loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 119 one year ago.
While usually known for belittling his opponents, Sonnen doesn’t have any reason to feel the need to do it to Stann, a US Marine veteran who now trains under renowned trainer Greg Jackson, at Greg Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts.
“The Shoot” filmed Sonnen as he prepared for his upcoming bout and he praised his opponent’s skills. While the fight most fans are hoping to see is a rematch between him and Silva, Sonnen said he isn’t looking past Stann.
“He’s well-rounded, he’s got the right team around him,” Sonnen said. “He’s done awesome his last few fights.”
However, Sonnen said he only worries about himself as he prepares for a bout, especially returning from a long layoff. He expects his opponent to show up and compete on Saturday night but Sonnen won’t underestimate Stann, nor any opponent for that matter.
“I’ve never had an easy fight and I’ve never had a harder fight. They’re all hard, they’re so hard,” he said. “The separation is so small,” he added.
And come Saturday night, Sonnen will look to separate himself from the competition and stand alone as the No. 1 contender.
The anticipation is growing for this weekend’s UFC event, which goes down in Houston, TX, at the Toyota Center.
A star-studded