A pretty darn good card has just gotten better.
UFC officials today confirmed a second title fight added to UFC 136, which takes place Oct. 8 at Houston's Toyota Center.
Featherweight champ Jose Aldo (19-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) makes the second defense of his UFC title when he meets two-time lightweight challenger and newly minted 145-pound fighter Kenny Florian (15-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC).
Aldo returns after some confusion about his immediate future following his first title defense against Mark Hominick at UFC 129. After successfully outpointing Hominick at the record-breaking event, reports surfaced about an injury to Aldo that would keep him out of the cage for an anticipated bout with Chad Mendes at UFC 133.
Although Aldo's manager Ed Soares later downplayed the fighter's health problems in an interview with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), he said the fighter was targeting a September return.
"Whether it's Mendes or any other top contender, Jose is competing against the very best opponents in the world, and he wants ample time to prepare," Soares said. "When you're the champion, everyone is gunning for you, and it's important to be 100 percent."
Mendes, of course, chose not to wait for the champ and instead took a bout against Rani Yahya at the Aug. 6 event.
Florian, however, took a prime position to seize the day when he bested Diego Nunes on points at UFC 131. And given his status as a perennial contender, the UFC has given him a third crack at a major title.
The veteran of "The Ultimate Fighter 1" made the move to featherweight after a title eliminator bout with Gray Maynard that sacked his third attempt at the lightweight belt. He went 9-3 in that division with losses to Sean Sherk and B.J. Penn in his two attempts at UFC gold.
Source: UFC 136 gets second title fight as champ Jose Aldo meets Kenny Florian