As the summer comes to a close, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has begun to announce some big matchups that they have lined up for their upcoming events. UFC 136 and 137 are due to be stacked with fights that will not only shake up the MMA rankings, but also give fans some high impact bouts that they have been waiting to see.
Set for October 6 in the Toyota Center in Houston Texas, UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 will bring a close to the rivalry on the marquee. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard will finally meet to decide who the better lightweight between the two is. UFC 125 ended in a draw, and both fighters will go to the limit to ensure that a winner and undisputed UFC lightweight champion will be declared at the end of the evening.
Jose Aldo will also be on hand to defend his title when he faces off against new number one contender Kenny Florian. Aldo, who states that he’s now fully healed from the injuries that have plagued him since before his bout with Mark Hominick, will be making his fourth title defense, while Florian will earn his third shot at UFC gold.
The always controversial Chael Sonnen will make his return to the UFC and compete against contender Brain Stann. Sonnen will step back into the Octagon for the first time since his defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva. The former number one contender has had a number of legal problems that forced him away from competition, but he has finally been cleared for action.
Stann has been steadily rising through the middleweight ranks. Since dropping down to 185 he has been able to stop all three of his opponents, including Jorge Santiago and Chris Leben. With a victory here, Stann will likely place himself as the next contender to the title, and face the winner of the UFC Rio main event.
Along with these fights, surging lightweight Melvin Guillard will face Joe Lauzon, while Jeremy Stephens will face off against Anthony Pettis, and Demian Maia and Jorge Santiago will both look to rebound from recent losses when they face each other.
October will also be home to another UFC event, as UFC 137 will feature two very important welterweight bouts.
Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will defend his title against Nick Diaz, who vacated his Strikeforce title to step back into the UFC Octagon.
At UFC 129 in Toronto, St. Pierre was able to defeat Diaz’s teammate Jake Shields, and on the heels of that win, Diaz became what many consider the final test for St. Pierre in this weight class. Diaz has been dominating the Strikeforce welterweight division, and his cult following continues to grow with each outing. Zuffa had to work overtime to get Diaz out of Strikeforce early in order to set up this fight, and now that it’s done, fans will get the matchup that they were asking for.
Along with this bout, eventual Hall of Famer BJ Penn will face the wildly exciting Carlos Condit. Penn is coming off of a draw against perennial contender Jon Fitch. While both Fitch and Penn expressed interest in finishing their business, they were unable to get back into the Octagon to face each other. Condit, on the other hand, burst through the ranks of welterweight and took everyone by surprise with his stunning knockout of Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132.
With that win, Condit became the fighter that many felt should be the next in line to face GSP, especially since he is a fresh face that has yet to face the champion. If Condit is able to defeat Penn, he probably will be the next in line to face GSP if he gets past Diaz later that evening. While they are both members of Greg Jackson’s fight team, provisions have been made that allow these two men to face each other if that situation arises.
UFC 136 and 137 have begun to take shape with these fight announcements. Although October is a long way off, it is certainly shaping up to be a month to remember, and mixed martial arts fans can’t wait to see what will occur when the gate shuts behind these fighters.
