UFC 136 press conference LIVE updates today (Aug. 16) for 'Edgar vs Maynard 3' in Houston

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be holding a public press conference to officially announce October's  UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 event today, (August 16, 2011).

The conference will begin at 2 p.m. ET live from The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the home city of the event.

Scheduled to attend will be UFC president Dana White as well as the four headlining fighters of the evening: Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian.

Frankie Edgar is the current UFC lightweight champion, having twice defeated B.J. Penn in 2010 to win and defend the belt before earning a draw against Maynard earlier this year in one of 2011's most exciting fights..

On the opposite side of the podium will be the challenger to his title, Gray Maynard, the only man to defeat Edgar and the man who was literally inches away from earning a first round knockout to take the title at UFC 125 before "The Answer" responded.

Brazilian Jose Aldo is the current UFC featherweight champion, having previously defended his title earlier this year at UFC 129 against Mark Hominick in a bout that won "Fight of the Night" honors.

His challenger, veteran of The Ultimate Fighters season one, Kenny Florian, will be competing in his fourth weight class and will be fighting in his third overall title shot in his career. This is perhaps the last opportunity at UFC gold that he will ever get.

We'll have complete updates of the UFC 136 press conference after the jump.

Brian Hemminger here, the conference will begin very shortly.

2:12 p.m. - Still waiting for the conference to begin.

Frankie Edgar: I'm sure we're both highly motivated coming off a draw. We'll both bring it.

Gray Maynard: Since January 1st, this has been on my mind every day and every night. I trained hard and I want that day to come.

Kenny Florian: It was especially difficult dropping down because of my injury. I expect the weight cut to be that much easier this time. I could have fought five more rounds after my last fight and i'll be ready on October 8th.

Jose Aldo: I'm working in camp to come back stronger than ever. I've been questioned because of that 5th round against Hominick, people saying I gassed and I want to come back stronger than ever.

Kenny Florian: I had a unique opportunity to do stuff for ESPN and do commentary for the UFC and I enjoy doing that. I found a good balance as far as taking time away from that and training. When it's time to analyze fights, I analyze them and when it's time to fight, I fight. That's what I'm doing right now, just getting ready for this fight.

Dana White: Chael talks about everybody. If we wanted to line him up against everyone he talks about, that would be a very difficult job. Should he win this fight, he'll be back in there with the Brazilians soon enough. We'll see what happens.

Gray Maynard: We've danced a couple times. In round one, it took a lot out of both me and him and we fought the last part about half and half. In the third fight, we'll be 100% and it's pretty much up to him if it goes five rounds or if it ends early. I'm going away with the belt but it's up to him if he wants a whole fight or not.

Frankie Edgar: I don't want a whole fight (laughs). I'm preparing for what he has. Of course I want a finish. I don't want to have that feeling again of going to a draw and that's what I'm looking for.

Dana White: There's so many good guys at that 155 pound division, that division is so stacked. I like Melvin Guillard and I always thought he was the biggest waste of talent and he's really turned that around. If he beats Lauzon, it'll be interesting to see who fights for the title next.

Dana White: I think twitter is the greatest marketing tool in the history of the world and it gives you a great link with the fans. I look at twitter to see if people have problems with tickets or with cable and with twitter and I can literally fix things that are happening in the business as it happens through twitter.

Dana White: I came from boxing. I built this company based on the things boxing did wrong. UFC and boxing can co-exist but boxing won't be fixing their problems any time soon. My job is to put fights on that people want to see. The best example is Mayweather - Pacquiao. Even if I don't necessarily agree, I go after guys and try to make fights that fans want to see.

Dana White: We might do a Hall of Fame induction at the expo.

Dana White: Styles make fights and so do fighters. All these guys are hungry. Boxing had that same old story, "if it wasn't for boxing, I'd be dead or in jail." These guys in MMA do it because they love it. Lots of them went to college. When you get guys like this, you get great fights. It's all about guys like this, the great fighters.

Jose Aldo: Anderson Silva is Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo is Jose Aldo. All I can do is train hard and do what I can do put on great fights.

Dana White: People have asked me to comment on the SBJ article. I didn't comment on the Wall Street Journal article either. I think we do fit in the sports world with Major League Baseball, with the NFL and NBA. To do that, you have to have the right deal. There are a lot of organizations that jumped at the first offer and ended quick. No matter what carrots were hanging in front of us, we took this slow. Building a sport is where everyone around the world plays by the same rules.

Frankie Edgar: I've got such great support at home and for me to bring the title back home, it's not just for me, it's for them too. I feel like they're in the cage with me.

Kenny Florian: Maybe if someone is looking for something a little more extreme, the All Balls Brawl could go mainstream. It was a thing I did for College Humor

Dana White: It was like the Showtime boxing fight the other night so I guess it has gone mainstream.

Jose Aldo: I learned my kicks from Pedro Rizzo, watching him fight for many years and training under him as well.

The press conference has concluded. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for all the latest updates on UFC 136.