Three fighter who made a breakthrough in UFC 136

From Heavy.com
by E. Spencer Kyte

Three fighters who stepped up last night

Stipe Miocic

Stipe Miocic

Getting a read on unbeaten fighters coming into the UFC is always tough. Miocic entered the Octagon for the first time with an unblemished record and having never gone into the third round.

Joey Beltran was a stern challenge and pushed the newcomer throughout, but Miocic was able to emerge with a unanimous decision victory.

A lot of people have been high on the Cleveland State alum following his success on the regional circuit, and he showed why — for the most part — in this one. Miocic has solid wrestling and boxing credentials, and now that he's gotten his first fight in the UFC out of the way, he knows what he needs to improve and can keep moving forward.

His conditioning is the only real question mark coming out of last night's fight, and that is somewhat understandable and expected of UFC neophytes. This is a different level, and the athletes are in prime condition, and Miocic will get there.

He's one to watch in the heavyweight division in the future.

Joe Lauzon

When you're a 3-1 underdog and you take home Submission of the Night honors in under a minute, you deserve some time in the spotlight.

Lauzon clipped Melvin Guillard early in the first, capitalizing on his opponent's cockiness to put him on the canvas. He pounced on Guillard, sunk in his hooks, and cinched in a deep rear naked choke to collect the submission, doing it all in just 47 seconds.

The victory drops Guillard out of the lightweight title picture, and adds Lauzon's name to the ever-growing list of contenders. It was the best win of his career, though he ranked his 2006 victory over Jens Pulver as his biggest to date at the post-fight press conference.

Lauzon is a proven finisher. He's finished all eight opponents he's faced inside the Octagon, and taken home seven bonus in 11 fights, including earning extra take home pay in seven consecutive fights.

Chael Sonnen

While his comments garner the majority of the attention — and rightfully so — Chael Sonnen's abilities and performance inside the cage Saturday night deserves some recognition.

After an extended layoff, Sonnen came out and took it to a Brian Stann. He put him on his back and gained several dominant positions in the opening round, threatening with a choke in the first. In the second, he caught an early Stann kick to bring the fight to the canvas again, transitioning into side control as he secured the fight ending arm triangle choke.

Like a lot of wrestlers, Sonnen does get enough credit for the well-rounded skill set that he brings into the cage, but he showed those talents last night in Houston. There was no lay-and-pray from Sonnen on Saturday night as he chained together transitions, leaving Stann little room to escape or muster any offense.

Of course, a lot of his outstanding performance is going to fade into the background of the story after his epic post-fight challenge to Anderson Silva. Be prepared for another couple months of verbal uppercuts from Sonnen between now and February; just don't forget about his outstanding performance from UFC 136 while you're shaking your head and laughing at what he says

UFC 136: Dana White Looks Back at UFC 136, Talks Strikeforce and Jones v...

Dana White touches on many issues in this interview varying from the fight between Edgar and Maynard and how he believes Edgar is no. 2 in the Pound for pound list.

Dana also mention that the fight between Silva and Sonnen 2 is a stupid thing not to do. So look out for it in the near future. Probably early 2012.

He mentioned Florian's display against Aldo and the future of the light heavyweight division and how MelviN Guillard look passed Joe Lauzon for the match maybe the reason he lost.

Last Stand? No, This Is Kenny Florian's Time

From Fightline
by Mark Wayne

Many see Kenny Florian's upcoming title fight with UFC featherweight champion José Aldo - his third shot at UFC gold - as possibly his last opportunity to fight for a belt. Florian has seen championship rounds twice and, after losing an opportunity to fight Frankie Edgar by losing to Gray Manyard in a title eliminator, the affable Bostonian dropped to featherweight to mount what has been called his last stand.
Florian though, doesn't quite look at it in those terms.

"I don't really see it that way," said Florian. "I'm fortunate that I love what I do. I love going to the gym everyday and learning. I love the challenges. I've been in the UFC a long time. I think, just to be able to do that, has been a blessing. I want to compete against the best guys and that's what I have here on Saturday night. I'm gonna go out there and get it done. This has been an excellent training camp and I feel that it's my time."

Ken-Flo believes that the fight, which takes place in the co-main event slot of UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 tomorrow night from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, will be one of the - or possibly the - most difficult of his career, but he still plans on walking out of the ring with a belt.

"It's gonna be a tough fight, Aldo's dangerous and I expect it's going to be a bloody fight," he predicted. "I'll leave there bloody, but I'll leave there with the belt."

UFC 136: Weigh In's

Shhhh.. Chael Sonnen is talking

From MMA Junkie
by Dann Stupp and John Morgan

HOUSTON – In many ways, Chael Sonnen makes it too easy for reporters.

Ask a few questions, and you have a headline-worthy sound bite, a boastful prediction, a claim that flies in the face of conventional wisdom, and then a stealthy compliment that makes you think the outspoken fighter really isn't all that bad.

For Sonnen, it's just another day on the job as MMA's most unique personality.

After returning from a 14-month layoff that resulted from multiple suspensions and legal issues, Sonnen (25-11-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) now meets Brian Stann (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) on Saturday's UFC 136 pay-per-view main card at Houston's Toyota Center. The winner could be in line for a title shot.

On Thursday, Sonnen was back in pre-fight mode. And though we got our headlining quote, Sonnen was trying to make a legitimate point – even if he adds in a bit of levity for good measure.

"Listen, I don't have a show," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I just tell it like it is. You guys ask the questions; I answer them.

"I don't manufacture conflict. I think I'm the most respectful guy in this sport. 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. 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."

Welcome back, Chael Sonnen. Love or hate him (and everyone falls into one of two camps), he remains a major figure in MMA.

Why?

For the past half decade, the sport has seen no equal to Anderson Silva, a record-setting UFC middleweight champion who's stumbled only once during his current 15-fight win streak. Silva, who's widely considered MMA's pound-for-pound kingpin, was dominated by Sonnen for more than four rounds before the champ pulled off a miracle submission victory midway through the fifth round.

Since the August 2010 fight, the performance essentially has been a black mark on Silva's resume. If he rematches Sonnen and proves the UFC 117 meeting was a fluke, Silva essentially has nothing left to prove in the sport.

And if you think Sonnen is too busy focusing on Stann to worry about the rematch, think again.

"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.

"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."

Surely, though, it's a little more complicated than that, right? Just tell us you've been working on a game plan for an opponent who's quickly become of the division's top-tier fighters.

"I don't do game plans," he said. "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."

Despite the humor, though, Sonnen eventually admits that yes, Stann is a real challenge. He presents real problems. And Sonnen, who actually commentated Stann's first pro fight back at SportFight 14 in 2006, knows he gets better each time out.

Stann needed three minutes to defeat his opponent that night: IFL vet and stand-out wrestler Aaron Stark.

"Brian was a natural," Sonnen said. "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.

"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."

Facing Stann, a true war hero, Sonnen knows his usual heel role will be amplified significantly. He knows his time away has done nothing to cool the hatred so many fans have for him. So when he enters the cage for Saturday's event, he has a simple request.

"Listen, I only ask the crowd to do two things: Be present and be loud," he said.

Edgar featured on CNN

Feature on Frankie Edgar by CNN



Enjoy

UFC 136: Prediction by Josh barnett

Strikeforce Heavyweight and Finalsit of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament shares his prediction of the Main card for UFC 136: Edgar vs Maynard III

JOSE ALDO: FROM FAVELA TO THE OCTAGON™

A Beautiful feature on Jose Aldo Jr.

He Talks about how he got to be where he is right now and his dreams and some bad ass Rocky training Nova Uniao style

Dana White interviewed by Ariel Herwani

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard III Press Conference

UFC 136 official press conference in Houston, Texas

Max "Lil Evil" Holloway

The guy Jeremy Stephens manager brought into Jeremy's camp for his upcoming fight against Anthony "Showtime" Pettis.

The dude looks like Pettis a little and fights like Pettis a little with his explosive kickboxing style similar to Pettis.



Currently he holds a professional record of 4-0 and 9-0 as an amateur. He currently holds the X-1 Lightweight title, a Hawaii Local promotion. Out of his four bouts he manage to finish one of his fights by KO and the rest by decision

This kid has a bright future as long as he trains hard, works hard and have the correct people guiding him.

UFC 136's Brian Stann says weight of fight with Chael Sonnen sells itself

Article taken from MMAjunkie.com
by Steven Marrocco

Well, Brian Stann's prediction came true. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) has offered him none of the insults that might have been expected.

"I told everybody from the start that I didn't think it was going to happen, and I've said this a couple of times where I believe that Chael is very genuine when he says that if he has a problem with somebody, he'll speak it, and when he doesn't have a problem with somebody, he won't," Stann (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com.

From the tone of the pre-fight talk, Sonnen has no problems with Stann. The two have been nothing but respectful toward each other.

Isn't Stann just a little disappointed, though? If nothing else, a few good jabs might have provided some entertainment in the buildup to their fight, which takes place at UFC 136 on Saturday at Houston's Toyota Center. The event's main card airs live on pay-per-view, and preliminary action airs live on Spike TV and streams on Facebook.

Former Marine and Iraq war veteran Stann has had enough entertainment to last a lifetime, so no.

"I also wouldn't have taken it personally anyway if there was anything used to generate hype," he said. "But I really think that our skill sets and the weight of this fight has generated all the hype it needs."

The weight he's referring to is what's next for the winner. Before he ran headlong into the California State Athletic Commission, Sonnen was due for an immediate rematch with champ Anderson Silva after their electrifying first meeting at UFC 117. A second meeting was the obvious way to answer the question of whether Sonnen's dominant-until-the-last-round performance had been a fluke, or if he really had the champ's number.

While it hasn't exactly been confirmed that the winner of Saturday's fight will get a title shot, UFC president Dana White thinks it "should be." That leaves Stann as the only roadblock to the highly anticipated rematch.

And by Sonnen's words, it's quite a roadblock. The onetime middleweight challenger said Stann represents such a threat that his rise has been hindered by the qualms of potential opponents. There's evidence to support that statement – this past summer, former PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva very publicly turned down a fight with Stann at UFC 130 because he didn't want to be the bad guy to fight a war hero on the Memorial Day card.

"Look, I'll speak for everybody, nobody wants to fight Brian, but somebody's got to," Sonnen said. "Our paths have to cross. We're just in the same weight class, it's not that big of a pool, and he's whooping everybody. If he quit beating everybody, than I wouldn't have to fight him, but he decided to go out and become one of the top guys."

Stann said he didn't have much of a choice in the matchup, either.

"This is the first fight where I just got a phone call and was told who I was fighting," he said. "Normally, there's a process. My manager throws out a couple of names, and then (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva throws out a couple of names. We were in that process, then all of a sudden after UFC 132 when Chris Leben knocked out Wanderlei Silva, it was 48 hours later. Boom, this is who you're fighting."

As the phrase goes, then, it is what it is. They've got a job to do. It's not something they're necessarily looking forward to, but there just aren't a lot of choices. Sitting out potential fights is almost never a good idea, and both ultimately want to fight Silva.

"I don't take it as something where Chael's going to go light on me," Stann said. "I still fully anticipate ... the guy who's going to double-leg takedown and try and push my head through the canvas."

And in the heat of that moment, it won't matter much what has or hasn't been said two months prior.

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard III Countdown

A video countdown done by Spike tv on the upcoming fight between Edgar and Maynard III, Aldo vs Florian and Sonnen vs Stann

You can see from Maynard reaction and mannerism, he is an angry man. A very angry man.

UFC 136: Guys to watch

Main event of the evening is the Edgar-Maynard III and Aldo-Florian for the featherweight title but I think the event is much better than it seems especially the under cards.

So here are some of the guys I believe we should keep on a lookout. We might never know, they might blow our minds to bits.

Stipe Miocic
(Heavyweight)

An American with Croatian descent making waves in the MMA world by finishing all of his opponents and currently holds a record of 6-0 with 5 KO or TKO and 1 submission. Stipe would be facing Joey Beltran for his UFC debut.





From his pants, I say he is a Cro Cop fan.

Zhang Tie Quan
(Featherweight)

I gotta show some love to my asia brother Zhang Tie Quan. He got a monster guillotine as he exhibited agaisnt Jason Reinhardt and Pablo Garza.

And Daniel Digby





Steve Cantwell vs Mike Massenzio

Why this bout you ask. Because their jobs are on the line. Steve Cantwell is on a 0-3 streak while Massenzio lost his last fight which was his return bout to the UFC. I got a feeling that either one of this guys are getting cut. UFC roster is getting bigger and bigger. Dead weight needs to be released until they prove they are not dead weight.

UFC 136 Fight Card

On the 8th October finally the wait is over. Edgar vs Maynard III is on. It is a highly anticipated bout between champ and challenger ever since the last fight was an exciting draw. Experts and fans a like were split between who won so too were the judges.

But come this Saturday in the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas a winner will emerge. (Hopefully) UFC might have a new Lightweight Champ or the champ might retain his belt and cement his place as the best lightweight in the world and one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA.

The Co-Main event of the evening is between the highly explosive and very entertaining UFC featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo Jr against a UFC and Ultiamte fighter veteran and Jiu Jitsu expert in Kenny Florian. This is Kenny's second fight in the UFC Featherweight division. His First was against Diego Nunes who is Jose Aldo's team mate in Nova Uniao. My guess is Aldo's team has plenty of information on Florian based on the Nunes fight.

Besides the two title fights, UFC 136 is stacked from the prelims to the main card. First fight for the main card is  Leonard Garcia vs Nam Phan II. The first fight between the two was a war and Leonard Garcia won by Split decision. Next is a ultra exciting fight between Joe Lauzon vs Melvin Guillard. Both fighters are finishers and my bet is this fight won't last till the 3rd round. 2nd round tops.

Then there's the Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann. All american wrestler vs and all american soldier. This is an excellent middleweight fight. Another title eliminator. Stann is on a role ever since dropping down to 185 lbs and Sonnen was very impressive in his defeat against the champ Anderson Silva. I sure hope Sonnen took Demian Maian advice on learning how to defend a triangle choke cos Stann defeated Mike Massenzio by triangle choke.

Man this card is stacked. (Yes, I know I ahve repeated myself again) Look at it's undercard former Sengoku middleweight Champ, Jorge Santiago vs World Jiu Jitsu Champ Demian Maia, Duke Roufos Stand out and former WEC lightweight Champ Anthony Pettis vs Jeremy Stephens who is riding on a two fight win streak.

Truly UFC 136 might be one of the best cards of the year if it lives to its expectation. Now I can't wait for the weekend to come.

Main card

Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard
Featherweight Championship bout: José Aldo (c) vs. Kenny Florian
Middleweight bout: Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann
Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard
Featherweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago
Lightweight bout: Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Heavyweight bout: Joey Beltran vs. Stipe Miocic
Featherweight bout: Zhang Tie Quan vs. Darren Elkins
Middleweight bout: Aaron Simpson vs. Eric Schafer
Middleweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio

UFC 136 - The Great Debate

The Countdown begins for UFC 136: Edgar vs Maynard III, October 8th

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard preview

UFC 136 preview

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard III

UFC 136 is just around the corner. It will be on the 8th of October 2011 (For us in Asia it will be on the 9th) held in the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

It will feature two title fights in the lightweight (155 lbs) and featherweight(145 lbs) division

The main event of the evening would be the lightweight contest between Frankie "The Answer" Edgar vs Gray "The Bully' Maynard. This is going to be the third time the both of them will be fighting each other. The Champ is 0-1-1 against The Bully

While  the co-main event would be the title fight is between the Champ, Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian for the Featherweight title. This would be Aldo third title defense but only his second in the UFC. (First was in the WEC for their featherweight title)

Here's the official Fight card on the 8th

Main Card

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard III - Lightweight (155 lbs) title bout
Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian        - Featherweight (145 lbs) title bout
Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann      - Middleweight bout
Melvin Guillard vs Joe Lauzon     - Lightweight bout
Leonard Garcia vs Nam Phan II  - Featherweight bout

Spike Prelims

Demian Maia vs Jorge Santiago     - Middlewight bout
Anthony Pettis vs Jeremy Stephens - Lightweight bout

Facebook Prelims

Joey Beltran vs Stipe Miocic          - Heavyweight bout
Zhang Tie Quan vs Darren Elkins   - Featherweight bout
Aaron Simpson vs Eric Schafer      -Middleweight bout
Steve Cantwell vs Mike Massenzio -Middle weight bout

Number of bouts according to weight class
Featherweight - 3 bouts
Lightweight     - 3 bouts
Middleweight   - 4 bouts
Heavyweights   - 1 bout