How To Watch UFC 136 Live Online, At A Bar Or Anywhere Else

Today is October 8th and beginning at approximately 6:00 p.m. ET, UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III kicks off from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. This event features two UFC title fights. In the co--main event, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo defends his belt against challenger Kenny Florian. In the main event, UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defends his belt against challenger Gray Maynard. Both bouts are scheduled for five, five-minute rounds.

MMA Nation has done the homework by compiling a post on ways you can watch this event no matter your viewing preference. Let's breakdown our options based on each portion of the card and each delivery system.

Online

For today's portion of the preliminary card, it's broken down into two sections. The first three bouts of the night will air for free on the UFC's Facebook page. That portion of the card begins at 6:00 p.m. ET. All one has to do is "Like" the UFC's Facebook page and you can watch the preliminary card for free with their built-in native video player.

The second half of the preliminary card will air for free on Spike TV.

UStream (typically) allows users who purchase their pay-per-view via the UStream platform $44.99 to watch the entire fight card. I can't speak to the quality of the stream itself, but that's a decent alternative. You should also check with UStream to make sure the entire fight card is still available.

Yahoo! also provides a decent online alternativel. Go to the dedicated UFC 136 page at Yahoo.com and purchase the pay-per-view. Unlike UStream, however, this stream will only show what's aired on the pay-per-view portion of the card.

You may also go to UFC.TV to purchase and view this event. The UFC's got a dedicated page on how to watch their pay-per-view events. At UFC.tv, however, you do not get the entire event.

Mobile

For those who are iPhone or iPad users, you can purchase the event to watch by using the UFC app from the iTunes app store. The app itself is $.99 while the pay-per-view is still $44.99. It's not clear whether watching this event on a phone is the best of all options, but it does exist. I suppose watching on an iPad might be a decent way to view the action.

On Pay-Per-View/Television

Whether your cable provider is DirecTV, Comcast, Cox or any other major cable company, you should have the ability to order tonight's fights. If you're not, please list the name of the company in the comments. A comprehensive list of cable providers who carry these events can be found here.

The cost for these events is pretty constant. For standard definition, you'll typically pay $44.99 while high definition costs $54.99. Others who are non-DirecTV customers tell me the cost of the UFC HD pay-per-view has gone up to $60, but that isn't the case for me. Let me know what price you are asked to pay and who your cable provider is.

If you own a Roku set-top box, you can also view UFC events live (although only the pay-per-view portion, not the preliminary card). Roku has recently improved the quality of their streams, so that's a better alternative than it once was.

Beginning at 8 p.m. ET, Spike TV will air at least two scheduled fights from the preliminary card. Depending on timing, they could show more from the previously aired fights on Facebook.

At A Bar

The UFC provides a exhaustive, searchable database of bars that carry their events. It's sorted by geography. Go to bars.ufc.com. From there you can enter your zip code to find those bars carrying tonight's fights closest to you. The results will even pull up the bar's number so you can call to ensure they're carrying the event as well as inquire about specials or a cover charge.

Here's the fight card laid out by distribution platform, time and segment:

Main Card (Airing on Pay-Per-View at 9 p.m. ET):

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