UFC 136 Fight Card Preview: The Main Card

Join MMA Nation Senior Editor Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) and Nate Wilcox (@KidNate) tonight for UFC 136 coverage starting at 5:50 p.m. when the Facebook portion of the card kicks off. UFC 136 is home to what many could consider three main event quality matches starting with Chael Sonnen's return to the UFC after a 14 month lay off against Brian Stann. In the co-main event Jose Aldo defends his featherweight title against Kenny Florian. In the main event of the evening, UFC champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard look to end their trilogy with a lightweight title fight. 

The rest of this card is as epic as the top three fights. In fact, this may be the deepest fight card the UFC has produced in 2011 with significant match ups across all divisions that will decide who are the contenders and who are the pretenders. Some fights to watch for are the Melvin Guillard vs Joe Lauzon fight, which could be Guillard's ticket to a title shot; Anthony Pettis' scrap with Jeremy Stephens which promises to contend for the fight of the night bonus; and the debut of heavyweight prospect Stipe Miocic who combines a D1 pedigree with golden gloves boxing. 

The UFC 136 main fight card:

UFC Lightweight Title Fight - Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard
UFC Featherweight Title Fight - Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian
Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann
Leonard Garcia vs Nam Phan
Melvin Guillard vs Joe Lauzon

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Demian Maia vs Jorge Santiago
Anthony Pettis vs Jeremy Stephens

Preliminary card (Facebook_

Joey Beltran vs Stipe Miocic
Darren Elkins vs Zhang Tie Quan
Eric Schafer vs Aaron Simpson
Steve Cantwell vs Mike Massenzio