Tag: Frankie Edgar

UFC 136 Fight Card: Which Fighter has the Most to Gain

UFC 136 will take place live from Houston tomorrow night. While a lot of tomorrow night’s focus will be on the second title fight of the night between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, there is one fighter who has even more at stake. Kenny Florian …

UFC 136 will take place live from Houston tomorrow night.

While a lot of tomorrow night’s focus will be on the second title fight of the night between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, there is one fighter who has even more at stake.

Kenny Florian (15-5) will challenge Jose Aldo for the featherweight championship in the co-main event.

Over the years, Florian been one of the best fighters in the UFC. When it comes to a major fight though, Florian has been looked at as one of MMA’s biggest chokes.  

In the middleweight final of Ultimate Fighter Season 1, Florian lost to Diego Sanchez.

Following the loss, Florian would go on to drop to welterweight, then lightweight, winning three straight.

The winning streak put Florian in position to fight for the vacant UFC lightweight title.

At UFC 64, Florian faced former welterweight contender Sean Sherk for the lightweight title. Sherk outwrestled Florian to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Florian would go on to win his next six fights, five of which ended by submission or knockout.

The winning streak made him the top contender once again. This time around, Florian would have to face a man he claimed he looked up to, BJ Penn.

During the UFC 101 main event, Florian repeatedly tried to take Penn down, but was unable to. In the fourth round, Penn was able to take Florian down and eventually submit him with a rear-naked choke.

Florian had once again climbed his way to the top of the division only to lose in the biggest fight of his career.

After wins against Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi, Florian found himself fighting in a No. 1 contender’s match against Maynard.

The fight had a special meaning for Florian as it was the first time the UFC had ever been in his home state of Massachusetts. Florian was once again dominated by wrestling as Maynard repeated took him to the ground and kept him there.

After the loss and a knee injury, Florian decided to change weight divisions again, this time dropping to featherweight.

At UFC 131, Florian was successful at his featherweight debut, defeating Aldo’s teammate Diego Nunes.

Florian now finds himself back in a title fight, almost five years to the date after he lost his first shot at UFC gold.

At age 35, this could be the last chance Florian gets at a title. A win would without a doubt be the defining moment of his career.

Because he has lost every big fight in his career, Florian has been called a choke. A win would not only put the featherweight title on Florian, but also lift a huge burden that has been on his shoulder for years.

Tomorrow night, Ken-Flo can make history and finally prove that he has what it takes to be a UFC champion. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 136 Weigh in Results: Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard

The UFC 136 weigh-ins took place on Friday, October 7 and all fighters were on weight.The fight card will take place on Saturday, October 8 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and will be headlined by two UFC title bouts. The co-main event will fe…

The UFC 136 weigh-ins took place on Friday, October 7 and all fighters were on weight.

The fight card will take place on Saturday, October 8 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and will be headlined by two UFC title bouts. The co-main event will feature Jose Aldo putting his UFC featherweight title on the line against Kenny Florian, while the main event will see lightweight champion Frankie Edgar meet up with Gray Maynard.

Frankie Edgar (154.5) vs. Gray Maynard (155)

Jose Aldo (145) vs. Kenny Florian (145)

Chael Sonnen (185.5) vs. Brian Stann (186)

Leonard Garcia (145) vs. Nam Phan (145)

Melvin Guillard(155.5) vs. Joe Lauzon (155.5)

Demian Maia (185) vs. Jorge Santiago (185)

Anthony Pettis (154.5) vs. Jeremy Stephens (156)

Joey Beltran (245) vs. Stipe Miocic (236)

Darren Elkins (145) vs. Tiequan Zhang (146)

Eric Schafer (185.5) vs. Aaron Simpson (186)

Steve Cantwell (186) vs. Mike Massenzio (185)

Four fights will stream on the UFC’s facebook page beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Spike TV will then carry two preliminary card fights at 8 p.m. ET with the main card going live on pay-per-view at 9 p.m. ET.

Reminder: Watch the UFC 136 Weigh-Ins Right Here at 5:00 pm ET

(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 136 weigh-ins from Houston, Texas starting at 5:00 pm ET.

There’s a pretty good chance that at least one fighter is getting shoved during the festivities. Unfortunately we likely won’t hear from Stann or Sonnen since Joe Rogan typically only interviews the main event participants, so we’l have to settle for listening to Maynard say that Frankie has his belt and to Edgar say he’s sick of fighting Gray.

Time for a few friendly wagers in the comment section.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFC)

Just a friendly reminder that we will have the live stream of today’s UFC 136 weigh-ins from Houston, Texas starting at 5:00 pm ET.

There’s a pretty good chance that at least one fighter is getting shoved during the festivities. Unfortunately we likely won’t hear from Stann or Sonnen since Joe Rogan typically only interviews the main event participants, so we’l have to settle for listening to Maynard say that Frankie has his belt and to Edgar say he’s sick of fighting Gray.

Time for a few friendly wagers in the comment section.

Will Sonnen’s bacne be as prevalent as it was at the UFC 117 weigh-ins?

Will Guillard get in Lauzon’s face?

Will Dana be wearing a Houston Expos shirt?

Will Joe Silva be wearing a leather jacket?

Will Arianny go lighter on the make-up than she did at the 135 weigh-ins?

Will Keith Florian annoy you at all during the broadcast?

UFC 136 Fight Card: Frankie Edgar Will Edge Gray Maynard To Defend Title Belt

The fight card at UFC 136 is stacked with exciting fights, but none carries as much gravitas or potential for an all-time mixed martial arts classic as the main event, featuring Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Edgar will defend his claim to the UFC lig…

The fight card at UFC 136 is stacked with exciting fights, but none carries as much gravitas or potential for an all-time mixed martial arts classic as the main event, featuring Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

Edgar will defend his claim to the UFC lightweight championship, if only by the slimmest of margins.

These two men are anything but strangers in the octagon, with two previous encounters on their records. Maynard “bullied” Edgar into a win by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night back in April of 2008. Edgar “answered” back on New Year’s Day at UFC 125: Resolution with a rousing comeback to force a split decision with Maynard and retain the UFC Lightweight Championship belt as a result.

Granted, that draw did anything but resolve the lingering questions surrounding Edgar and Maynard, which brings us to this weekend’s festivities at the Toyota Center in Houston. Edgar has demonstrated vast improvement in the three-and-a-half years since suffering the first and only loss of his MMA career. No longer is Edgar quite so susceptible to Maynard’s menacing takedowns, thanks in large part to fancier footwork and a stronger stand-up game.

Edgar doesn’t have the sort of power to put Maynard out of his misery in one or two shots, but what he lacks in strength, he more than makes up for in conditioning, boxing skills and sheer determination. Maynard seemingly had Edgar beaten in their last bout, with a furious 97-strike rally right out of the gate. However, Edgar was able to withstand the early barrage and recover with some beautiful takedowns to pull even on the judges’ scorecards.

That being said, Maynard still owns the advantage in sheer brute force and devastating power. It’s seemingly to Maynard’s advantage to come out swinging, so to speak, as he lacks the stamina to outlast a scrappy, scrambling opponent like Edgar.

The difference in this bout will come down to which combatant can dictate the location of the action. If Edgar can funnel the fight to the center of the Octagon, he’ll be better able to exploit his advantage in speed, dexterity and escapability to wear out the more cumbersome Maynard.

However, if this one ends up against the cage, then the pendulum will swing squarely in Maynard’s favor. “The Bully” needs to be just that—a bully—to pound his opponent into submission. Anything short of that and Maynard will leave himself vulnerable and open to attack in the later rounds after exerting himself to little avail.

Neither fighter figures to claim a decisive edge in this one. As such, the difference between winning and losing could come down to a big takedown here or a heavy exchange there. All told, look for Edgar to escape the night with his title belt still fastened around his waist, however precariously, after narrowly outlasting his biggest nemesis.

Follow J0shMart1n on Twitter

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 136 Fight Card: 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 …

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.

UFC 136 Fight Card: 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 …

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.