5 big questions heading into UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III

The UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III event is set to take place this coming Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. It’s the best card on paper that the UFC has produced in quite some time with a ton of very meaningful fights. We’ll be previewing the main card fights as always each day this week, but I wanted to take a look at five big questions heading into this event. Check it:

• Should Gray Maynard be the underdog going into his third fight with Frankie Edgar?

These two guys have fought twice before with Maynard winning the first matchup pretty much out wrestling Edgar by landing 90% of his takedowns(9 out of 10). The second bout was a war with Maynard destroying Edgar in the first round, but Edgar was able to survive and come back to win some rounds for the fight to end in a draw. Maynard was only able to land 18% of his takedowns in the fight(3 out of 17). Maynard is the larger/stronger fighter and probably the better wrestler of the two. I wonder just how much energy Maynard expended in the first round trying to finish Edgar the last time? Make no mistake that Edgar endured hell and that had to take it’s toll on him as well, but did those flurries take a lot out of Maynard and allow Edgar to come back later in the fight? Did his takedown defense improve that much or was he able to stop Maynard’s takedowns because of all the energy Maynard spent trying to finish him. The answer to those questions will be the key to this fight. I expect it to be a great one, but I don’t see how Maynard is the underdog as it should at least be even odds in my opinion.

• Will Kenny Florian become the Buffalo Bills of MMA with a loss to Jose Aldo?

You have to go back to the 90’s with the Buffalo Bills making the Superbowl 4 years straight only to lose every single one of those games. This will be Florian’s 3rd shot at a UFC title with him losing in the first two opportunities at UFC 64 and UFC 101 respectively. Frankly, he hasn’t been very competitive in title fights and he’s a big underdog going into this fight with Aldo. A friend of mine on Twitter asked Florian if he planned on dropping to bantamweight if he lost to Aldo which I thought was pretty funny since Florian started out as a middleweight in the UFC.

• Will you be buying the Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva II PPV if he gets past Brian Stann?

Chael Sonnen will surely get a rematch with Anderson Silva if he is to get past Brian Stann at UFC 136. He’s the only guy to make Anderson Silva look human in the cage after beating him down for 4 and a half minutes before being submitted. He can sell a fight like no other, and Silva has basically ran out of opponents in the middleweight division. Sonnen has been out of action for over a year, and that could have an effect on his performance. However, I still expect him to get past Stann to set up another showdown with Silva. You buying?

• Does Melvin Guillard deserve the UFC lightweight title shot with a win over Joe Lauzon?

Melvin Guillard has become a totally different fighter since joining Greg Jackson’s camp in New Mexico. He hasn’t lost in over two years and this would be his sixth win in a row. Lauzon isn’t a lightweight in the top ten, but he is a very solid fighter. It’ll be interesting to see how the UFC will treat Guillard if he wins impressively. Especially with the news of Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez about to make his way over to the UFC. Would Melendez get the immediate title shot or maybe would they do Guillard(if he wins) vs. Melendez for the #1 contender shot? Interesting stuff.

• Does UFC 136 break 500K PPV buys?

The UFC is well behind last years PPV pace, mostly due to the fact that Brock Lesnar has been inactive the entire year because of health reasons. They have only surpassed the 500K buy rate twice the entire year with UFC 126 and UFC 129. It appears that UFC 135 could be trending between 400-500KPPV buys right now so maybe that will offer the UFC some positive momentum. The last time Edgar/Maynard fought and headlined UFC 125 it did around 300K PPV buys. However, UFC 136 will feature two title bouts and on paper looks better than anything the UFC has offered in quite some time. The only problem is that none of the fighters on the card are legitimate PPV draws. What say you?