UFC 136 Official for Oct. 8 in Houston

photo by Josh Hedges/UFC.com

Tickets for stacked Houston show on sale Oct. 17

One of the more stacked events in UFC history became official today when the UFC announced “UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3.”

The event takes place on Oct. 8th at the Toyota Center. A Fan Expo will coincide with the event and take place Oct. 7-8.

The card is headlined by the much-anticipated third bout between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Maynard gave Edgar the only loss of his career in April 2008 at “UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon.” After the loss, Edgar strung together five consecutive victories inside the Octagon, including a pair of wins over former champion B.J. Penn. Edgar captured the belt from Penn and then dominated the Hawaiian in a rematch.

Edgar defended the belt against Maynard in January. Maynard obliterated Edgar in the first round, but the valiant champion displayed a ton of heart in surviving the first round. Edgar would go on to edge Maynard for the majority of the rest of the fight, but it wasn’t enough to earn the victory. The fight was a rare split draw. A rematch was booked for UFC 130 in May, but injuries to both fighters postponed the bout.

“Frankie and Gray had a Fight of the Year candidate the last time they met and I expect nothing different this time around in Houston,” UFC President Dana White said. “Both guys truly believe they won the last fight and the wait for their third fight is over. On Oct. 8, neither of these guys plans on leaving it to the judges.

In the co-main event, Jose Aldo will defend his featherweight title against perennial lightweight contender Kenny Florian. Other featured bouts include Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann in a middleweight title eliminator bout, Demian Maia taking on Jorge Santiago and former WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis facing Jeremy Stephens.

Tickets for the event go on sale to UFC Fight Club members on Wednesday, August 17 at 10 a.m. CT. UFC newsletter subscribers will get a chance the following day to purchase tickets, followed by a general public sale on Friday.