Wednesday, October 5, 2011

UFC 136: Two Titles on the Line

Image from MMAmania
The TRILOGY of Edgar vs. Maynard will happen this coming October 8 and the first attempt of Florian to get the featherweight title from Jose Aldo. Who will WIN?

This will be the first time that UFC will have two title fights in one pay-per-view. World Lightweight and World Featherweight Titles will be on the line at the same time for the very first time in UFC history.

Let's go to the history of the four fighters.

First, the Trilogy of Edgar and Maynard. They first met in the UFC Fight Night three years ago, April 2, 2008. That fight went to the distance, 3 rounds of action and that was controlled by the Takedowns of Gray Maynard. In the end it was a Unanimous Decision in favor of Maynard.

They met again for the second time in UFC 125: Resolution. Their second meeting was a title fight, it was for the World Lightweight Championship and Edgar was the Champion that time after beating BJ Penn twice (and still the Lightweight Champion of today). In their second fight, Maynard was so determined and very confident that he could beat Edgar and be the new Lightweight Champion. Edgar had other things in mind, he learned his lesson from their last fight and brought the action on their feet. Edgar dictated the phase in that fight but Maynard equalized the intensity of Edgar. For the second time the fight went to distance, 5 five-minute rounds with a split decision, Edgar retained his title.

Frankie "The Answer" Edgar 13-1-1 (W-L-D) have a very well wrestling and cardio. He can put the fight in the ground or in striking. He has fast hands, quick jabs that can disrupt the attack of Maynard. Edgar always come to his fights as the underdog, almost everyone is always doubtful about his ability to win but he said that he doesn't believe in "can't".

While "The Bully" Gray Maynard 11-0-1 NC-1 (W-L-D and No Contest) is a very well rounded fighter. He can wrestle, strike and he also have a very good cardio like Edgar. There's an extra motivation for Maynard because everyone thought that he could actually won their last encounter. Now, he wants to prove that he can beat Edgar and become the new Lightweight Champion. Maynard has a 1400-pound punch according to Sports Science, but can that punch knock out the Champion Edgar?

It's time for Aldo and Florian match-up. This will be their first head-to-head in the UFC Octagon. Florian used to fight in the lightweight division and now he's challenging the featherweight champion Aldo. This fight will be an exciting one, because this will be Experience against Youth.

Jose "Junior" Aldo 19-1-0 (W-L-D) is a very dangerous fighter when it comes to striking, his kicks can be a difference maker. He can knock down anyone and his vicious ground game can end the fight. His last fight with Hominick went to distance and he just won it by Decision. Aldo failed to win via KO because of the Takedowns of Hominick and somewhat wrong conditioning of Aldo.

The well experienced and well rounded Kenny "KenFlo" Florian 16-5-0 (W-L-D) have a great jiu-jitsu and dangerous elbow. He can also fight in the ground because his submission is also exceptional. The last fight of 'KenFlo' was in the lightweight division against Diego Nunez in UFC 131 and it also went into distance, and it ended in a Unanimous Decision for Florian. Can the wrestling/takedowns and submission attacks of Florian stop the vicious young champion?

The Featherweight match-up will be a great one. Aldo and Florian have an entirely different style. Aldo finished most of his fights with KO, 7 out of the 9 last fights of Aldo ended with KO. While Florian, is a submission artist. He finished most of his fights in Tap Out, 9 of KenFlo's last fights ended in submission.

Who will prevail the striker? or the submission maneuver?

My prediction. We will have a NEW Lightweight Champion Gray Maynard and Aldo will retain his Featherweight title.

We should also look out for some of the undercard matches like the come backing Chael Sonnen against Stann, Guillard versus Lauzon, Maia fighting Santiago and "Showtime" Petis will go head-to-head with Stephens.

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