This Sat., June 20, 2009, The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. Finale takes place at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nev., and will air live on Spike TV beginning at 9pm ET/PT.
PRO MMA (promma.info) will be providing live round-by-round updates and results throughout the event.
Fighting for a six-figure UFC contract will be The Ultimate Fighter season 9 welterweight finalists DaMarques Johnson (13-6) and James Wilks (5-2).
Wilks, from Team U.K., defeated Frank Lester in the final episode of TUF 9 this past Wednesday to earn his spot in the finals. DaMarques Johnson is the lone fighter from Team U.S. to earn a spot in the finals.
The lightweight finalists, both from Team U.K., are Ross Pearson (9-3) and Andre Winner (9-2-1). Pearson, who used to work as a bricklayer, holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a brown belt in Judo. Fans will remember Winner as the adult thumb sucker on the show.
Headlining the event is what should prove to be an intense, action-packed bout between Clay “The Carpenter” Guida (25-9) and Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez (20-2).
It will be Diego’s second fight at lightweight after defeating Joe “Daddy” Stevenson in February. Diego is on a three-fight win streak. Guida is also on a three-fight win streak, most recently defeating Nate Diaz via split decision in January.
What is interesting is both Guida and Sanchez’s last opponents, Stevenson and Diaz, will themselves be facing each other on this card as well; Nate Diaz (10-3) will fight Joe Stevenson (29-10) in a lightweight showdown to see who will be the first to get back on the winning track.
Stevenson, who has now dropped two in a row, is in need of a win more than Diaz He lost to Kenny Florian at UFC 91 and then Guida at UFC 95. One more loss for Stevenson and his five year career in the UFC could come to an end.
The Ultimate Fighter season 5 winner, Nate Diaz, was unbeaten in the UFC, on a beautiful five-fight win streak, until he was out-worked by Guida in his last bout. The Cesar Gracie protogé has never lost two bouts in a row and does not plan to start against Stevenson.
Diaz’s long reach and superb ground game will make for an interesting match-up against Stevenson’s wrestling and power. If Diaz could defeat Stevenson it would be a huge feather in his cap and the biggest win of his career.
Chris Lytle (26-17-5) is back after losing to Marcus Davis in January. Lytle is one of the toughest and most exciting fighters you will ever see but the guy really needs a win. He has not won more than two fights in a row since 2004.
Four other fighters from The Ultimate Fighter season 9 have found their way onto the finale. Jason Dent (18-9) vs. Cameron Dollar (2-1) and Frank Lester (3-2) vs. Nick Osipczak (3-0) will be on the preliminary portion of the card.
Dollar, Dent, and Lester were all part of Team U.S. coached by Dan Henderson and Osipczak was on Team U.K. coached by Michael Bisping. So, if you total up all the TUF 9 fighters competing on Saturday there are 4 from Team U.S. and 4 from Team U.K.
Stay tuned to PRO MMA (promma.info) as we will be providing a LIVE FEED of the weigh-ins on Friday as well as the live results and play-by-play during the event on Saturday.
Fighting to become the season 9 “Ultimate Fighter” at lightweight are:
Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner
Fighting to become the season 9 “Ultimate Fighters” at welterweight are:
DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks
Here is the complete fight card:
MAIN CARD
Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Kevin Burns vs. Chris Lytle
TUF 9 lightweight finale
Ross Pearson vs. Andre Winner
TUF 9 welterweight finale
DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks
PRELIMINARY CARD
Jason Dent vs. Cameron Dollar
Frank Lester vs. Nick Osipczak
Mike Ciesnolevicz vs. Tomasz Drwal
Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia
Melvin Guillard vs. Gleison Tibau
By: Jack Bratcher