Kenny Florian gets his shot at featherweight king and pound-for-pound star Jose Aldo tomorrow night at UFC 136 in Houston. The champ is a large favorite going into the fight and the question is, can Florian pull off the upset? There is one major advant…
Kenny Florian gets his shot at featherweight king and pound-for-pound star Jose Aldo tomorrow night at UFC 136 in Houston. The champ is a large favorite going into the fight and the question is, can Florian pull off the upset?
There is one major advantage I see for Florian in this one and that is his coaching, camp and ability to game plan to victory. Aldo is the superior fighter in skill alone, but Florian has a very solid MMA machine behind him, and that help and experience is his key to victory.
If Florian can stick to, and execute, the game plan his team sets out for him, he most certainly can pull off the upset tomorrow night. We have seen Florian work a strategy in all his big fights but not always to success.
I see him trying to smother Aldo to the cage and the ground in order to nullify the power which Aldo possesses. Florian won his featherweight debut in this fashion as well.
After standing with Diego Nunes early and not getting the upper hand, he shifted to the jab, take downs and grappling control to pour it on and take the fight. If he couldn’t get the upper hand standing with Nunes, he certainly won’t with Aldo so look for Florian to wrestle.
I think Aldo will push him off and try to keep distance all night. He will use his strikes and power to win, but don’t be completely surprised if Florian “GSPs” his way to the upset.
If Aldo wins by employing his strategy, we are in for a very fun fight to watch. If Florian can impose his will, it will be a disappointing fight for the fans to watch but a satisfying upset for Florian.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and (also a Correspondent for MMACanada.net)
All 22 fighters at UFC 136 will step onto the scale at the UFC 136 weigh-ins Friday afternoon, and we’ll carry the live video right here at MMAFighting.com.
UFC 136 features two title fights, with lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard needing to weigh in at the 155-pound limit, and featherweights Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian needing to make 145 pounds.
The UFC 136 weigh-in begins at 5 PM ET and the video is below.
All 22 fighters at UFC 136 will step onto the scale at the UFC 136 weigh-ins Friday afternoon, and we’ll carry the live video right here at MMAFighting.com.
UFC 136 features two title fights, with lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard needing to weigh in at the 155-pound limit, and featherweights Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian needing to make 145 pounds.
The UFC 136 weigh-in begins at 5 PM ET and the video is below.
For me, The Ultimate Fighter season five was the best season the show ever put out.It was stacked with legitimate prospects, entertaining personalities, two very entertaining coaches—Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn, who actually fought at the season fi…
For me, The Ultimate Fighter season five was the best season the show ever put out.
It was stacked with legitimate prospects, entertaining personalities, two very entertaining coaches—Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn, who actually fought at the season finale—and it took place right after the UFC brought back the 155-pound division.
Penn would go on to become the division’s champion after besting Pulver.
A testament to how good the season was is the contestants’ success after the show. And with two of them fighting this Saturday at UFC 136, it seems like a good time to take a look at the best of the bunch from season five.
The UFC’s favorite anti-hero Chael Sonnen has only had good things to say about his UFC 136 opponent, Brian Stann, and who can blame him with “The All-American’s” decorated military career.However, that doesn’t mean Uncle Chael doesn’t have any crazy q…
The UFC’s favorite anti-hero Chael Sonnen has only had good things to say about his UFC 136 opponent, Brian Stann, and who can blame him with “The All-American’s” decorated military career.
However, that doesn’t mean Uncle Chael doesn’t have any crazy quotes up his sleeve in the final hours leading up to the star-studded event in Houston, Texas.
In an interview with MMAjunkie, the embattled middleweight was certainly not at a loss for words.
“Listen, I don’t have a show,” Sonnen began. “I just tell it like it is. You guys ask the questions; I answer them.”
Just like that, the fireworks went off without any warning.
“I don’t manufacture conflict. I think I’m the most respectful guy in this sport,” Sonnen proclaimed, for sure gaining the attention of anyone in ear shot.
“I have a vastly different opinion of what respect means than some people. Some people think it’s respectful to lie and be nice to your face and bow and put a knife in your back when you turn around,” the Team Quest fighter explained.
“I well tell you to your face that when you turn around, I’m going to put a knife in your back, and then I’ll do it. That’s respect.”
Chael Sonnen’s definition of respect is certainly a unique one, to say the least.
The self-proclaimed “American gangster from Oregon” surprisingly did not directly talk about a rematch with Anderson Silva this time around, despite the fact that it is a very likely possibility if Sonnen picks up the W.
However, Sonnen had some interesting things to say when talking about his future beyond UFC 136.
“I always look ahead,” he said. “I don’t ever focus on anything. Again, this doesn’t require focus, guys. This is a fistfight for a 15-minute time limit. I can’t think of anything less meaningful or important in life than that,” Sonnen stated, making it clear that MMA is not the only thing going on in his life.
“You guys have all worked more than 15 minutes just today. So I’m going to have to go work 15 minutes in the last 14 months. I’m not going to sit around and complain about that or act as though I’m building a piano here. It’s a fight.”
Imagine if there was a YouTube video of Chael Sonnen assembling a piano? That one’s got “viral” written all over it.
Surely, Sonnen had a lot to say when talking about his game plan against Brian Stann, right?
“I don’t do game plans,” Sonnen said flat out. “Listen, guys. You can take all these guys with their eighth-grade education and their gold teeth trying to sit around and break down a fight.
“This is the most unsophisticated and un-well-thought-out thing you need to do in life. Two half-naked men are going to get into a steel cage and fight for the applause of a drunken rowdy crowd in Houston, Texas, on Saturday night. We don’t need a plan for this.”
It’s amazing that some legislators in New York think MMA is a barbarian’s sport.
All jokes aside, Sonnen once again said that he has the utmost respect for Brian Stann, and that has been the case since Sonnen commentated Stann’s first fight in 2006.
Stann defeated IFL veteran and then Team Quest-fighter Aaron Stark in his professional fighting debut, and Stark was known for his wrestling credentials at that point.
“Brian was a natural,” Sonnen recalled. “He fought a national wrestling champion, my teammate Aaron Stark, and he stopped it in a couple minutes of the very first round. I couldn’t stop Stark in a couple minutes of the first round. So I was impressed.”
Sonnen then reflected on the fact that he could not let a performance of that caliber go unrecognized.
“I grabbed him after the fight, introduced myself and said, ‘Man, I just think you’re really good. I wanted you to know.’ I still think he’s really good. When he was green and didn’t know much about fighting, he won the world championship in the WEC up a weight class, so I don’t question his skills at all.”
On a closing thought, Sonnen said he has no issues with being the “heel,” or bad guy in this fight, noting that he feels the crowd is free to root for whoever they want.
“Listen, I only ask the crowd to do two things: Be present and be loud,” Sonnen stated.
Jose Aldo versus Kenny Florian for the featherweight title and Frankie Edgar versus Gray Maynard for the lightweight title are the main event fights that will take place after Sonnen versus Stann at the Toyota Center on Saturday.
Considering how many talented and eye-catching lightweight contenders there are in the UFC, the highly-anticipated third fight between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and proven No. 1 contender Gray Maynard couldn’t come soon enough.Edgar and Maynar…
Considering how many talented and eye-catching lightweight contenders there are in the UFC, the highly-anticipated third fight between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and proven No. 1 contender Gray Maynard couldn’t come soon enough.
Edgar and Maynard fought to a draw in one of the best fights of the year, ironically on the first day of the year. Since then, the lightweight division has been gridlocked. For the top-10 at 155-pounds, the division is about to change; a new challenger will be needed.
Whether Edgar and Maynard meet for a fourth time or not, it will not be any time in the near future. The UFC needs some fresh new matchups at lightweight, and there will be no shortage of those.
But, with such a meaningful rematch approaching that will change the look of the division for the foreseeable future, I find myself reflecting on previous rematches that had a similar effect. Fights that represented a fork in the road and created a new era.
If Edgar wins, he will have defended his title three time against the hardest competition after winning it in one of the biggest upsets of all time.
If Maynard takes it, the UFC will have a new champion and one that made his UFC debut on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter.
It should be a fight to remember and could easily be included in this list some time down the road. But for now, here are the five most pivotal rematches in UFC history, prior to Saturday night.
On Saturday night at UFC 136, Gray Maynard, a man who has yet to lose to Frankie Edgar, will do everything in his power to walk away with what he believes to be his belt.The entire card for UFC 136 is stacked and will culminate with what could very wel…
On Saturday night at UFC 136, Gray Maynard, a man who has yet to lose to Frankie Edgar, will do everything in his power to walk away with what he believes to be his belt.
The entire card for UFC 136 is stacked and will culminate with what could very well be the best fight of the year.
Any hardcore UFC fan already knows they don’t want to miss this fight, but for some newcomers it may seem underwhelming. It won’t be.
Read further to see how Edgar and Maynard stack up.
Kenny Florian gets his shot at featherweight king and pound-for-pound star Jose Aldo tomorrow night at UFC 136 in Houston. The champ is a large favorite going into the fight and the question is, can Florian pull off the upset?
All 22 fighters at