I have never been more excited to do a column on Mixed Martial Arts than I am right now. We are only days away from one of the biggest cards of the year, and I have the pleasure of attending the event. Ultimate Fighting Championship 136 will be held in the Toyota Center in Houston this Saturday and will feature two title fights and two possible No. 1 contender bouts.

The card is headlined by Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar defending his title against Gray Maynard as they battle it out in the octagon for a third time. The last time these two fought was in January of this year, and it is the front-runner to winning Fight of the Year.

Maynard hurt Edgar early in the first round and dropped him on multiple occasions. Edgar showed tremendous heart and was able to get out of the round and win three of the next four rounds. The fight ended in a draw, and now they will settle it in Houston. This fight is really a toss-up as both fighters are very well-rounded and pretty much even in every category. I am going to give the slight edge to Edgar and say he wins a close decision because of his speed advantage.

Whoever wins, I am expecting a great fight between two versatile mixed martial artists.

The co-main event features one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet in Jose Aldo, as he defends his belt against Kenny Florian. Florian will be Aldo’s toughest test to date, as he possesses great Muay Thai skills, great boxing skills and a fluent ground game. Plain and simple, Florian finishes fights, but he is fighting one of the best featherweights in the world. I have high expectations for this fight, and I think Aldo is going to have to bring his A game if he wants to keep the 145-pound strap around his waist. Florian will test Aldo, but Aldo will finish this fight in spectacular fashion.

The number one contender bout scheduled between Chael Sonnen and Brian Stann features two of the UFC’s most popular stars. Sonnen is by far the most entertaining when it comes to hyping fights and is the most verbal fighter in the UFC. The last time he was in the octagon, he nearly defeated middleweight champ Anderson Silva until Silva applied a triangle choke in the fifth round and had the biggest comeback victory of all time in MMA.

Sonnen liked Stann so he has not been talking trash before this fight. Instead he has been talking about “his middleweight championship.”

He said he got together with “Uncle Dana” (UFC president Dana White) and decided to give Stann the first shot at his middleweight championship. The winner of this fight should get the next crack at Silva for the title.

The other No. 1 contender fight will lead off the PPV as Melvin Guillard fights Joe Lauzon. Should Guillard get past Lauzon, he will be considered the favorite to challenging the winner of Edgar and Maynard for the lightweight championship. That is the only way this fight is a No. 1 contender’s bout, because should Lauzon win, the title fight will go to another fighter.

With so much on the line and so many exciting fights, UFC 136 is going to be one amazing Pay Per View, and I personally cannot wait to witness it in person.