José Aldo held on to his UFC belt. UFC publicity photo.
While the two title fights headlining UFC 136 last night in Houston were the main focus, Chael Sonnen made a splash of his own with his win, quick to issue another challenge to Anderson Silva right after.
Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
In the main event of the evening, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard had a thrilling match, which Frankie came from behind to win in spectacular fashion. In the opening round the champion took some heavy shots, was wisibly wobbled by an upper cut but hung on. The second and third round saw Frankie get the better of the action, and in the fourth he came up with the knockout after landing a right hook that grounded his opponent, following up with strikes on the ground. Still, the Frankie vs. Maynard trilogy remains without a winner, as they share one win apiece and a draw between them.
José Aldo vs. Kenny Florian
José Aldo left nothing to chance in defending his UFC title for a second time, against Kenny Florian. After an evenly-matched first round, Aldo went on to land strikes with frequency and even make it to mount twice. With his leg battered from stinging leg kicks, Florian relied on clinching against the fencing to make things hard on Aldo, who with the unanimous decision win brings his winning streak to 13 and defends his featherweight title for the second time.
Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann
Sonnen – who’d have guessed? – used the Jiu-Jitsu he speaks so negatively about to good effect, taking Brian Stann down at will and moving to back mount and mount a number of times. The end came in round two, when Sonnen landed an arm triangle choke for the tapout. After his arm was raised he was quick to speak evil of Anderson Silva and make a promise he’ll hope he won’t have to keep: to quit the UFC if Anderson Silva should beat him again.
Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan
Both needed wins at all costs, having come off porr results. But it was the smaller Nam Phan who peppered Garcia with strikes and even landing a knockdown. While Garcia did launch a rally-back flurry of strikes in the third round, it wasn’t enough, as Phan was rightly given the unanimous nod. Garcia, who lost his second in a row, was applauded for his efforts, as he exited the cage.
Check out the complete results:
UFC 136
Toyota Center
October 8, 2011
Frankie Edgar defeated Gray Maynard by TKO at 3:54 minutes of R4
José Aldo defeated Kenny Florian via unanimous decision
Chael Sonnen submitted Brian Stann via arm-triangle at 3:51 min of R2
Nam Pan defeated Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision
Joe Lauzon submitted Melvin Guillard via rear-naked choke at 0.47 min of R1
Demian Maia defeated Jorge Santiago via unanimous decision
Anthony Pettis defeated Jeremy Stephens via split decision
Stipe Miocic defeated Joey Beltran via unanimous decision
Darren Elkins defeated Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision
Aaron Simpson defeated Eric Schafer via unanimous decision
Mike Massenzio defeated via unanimous decision