Previously-reported fights between Matt Hamill and Jon Jones as well as Frankie Edgar and Kurt Pellegrino were confirmed for The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, while BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo, and Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago were announced for UFC 107.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Jon Jones

The winner of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Sanchez (21-2) is currently riding a four-fight win streak that includes victories over Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida.

Sanchez dropped back-to-back decisions to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch in 2007, the only losses of his career, while “Nightmare” also holds notable wins over Kenny Florian, Nick Diaz, Joe Riggs, and Karo Parisyan.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Diego Sanchez news.

UFC President Dana White discussed the fight and event at Thursday’s UFC 102 press conference, adding that the card wouldn’t air on Spike TV like UFC 105 nor pay-per-view like UFC 106, but would apparently be the debut of a new broadcast deal to-be-announced, potentially with a network TV partner.

“Penn-Sanchez, but I don’t know where yet. We’re working on a deal right now,” said White. “It definitely won’t be in Manchester.”

“Neither,” White continued when asked whether it would air on Spike or PPV. “Wait and see boys…I’m pretty confident we’re gonna have a deal very, very soon. I like what I’m hearing now more than I ever did before…Once we get the right offer, we will be on network television. We haven’t had the right offer, yet.”

Pictured: Diego Sanchez

Penn (14-5-1) successfully defended the lightweight belt earlier this month at UFC 101, defeating Kenny Florian by fourth-round submission for his fourth win in last five fights. Prior to a January loss to Georges St-Pierre at welterweight, “The Prodigy” won consecutive lightweight bouts over Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, and Sean Sherk.

Following his win over Florian, Penn announced that he’d like to return to the Octagon quickly to take on Sanchez and it appears he’ll get his wish by headlining UFC 105, which is expected to air for free on tape-delay on Spike TV.

Sanchez (23-2), a former welterweight contender with wins over the likes of Nick Diaz, Joe Riggs, and Karo Parisyan, made his anticipated lightweight debut in February with a unanimous decision over Joe Stevenson. In his most-recent fight, “Nightmare” topped Clay Guida by split decision in June in a victory that has apparently earned him a shot at the 155-pound belt.

For the latest UFC 105 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Pictured: BJ Penn

“[A title defense against Diego Sanchez] is gonna happen, hopefully within the next two, two-and-a-half months.

“I’m 30 now and I’m hoping to get a couple of more fights in. I know they say that in MMA, people peak later, but who knows? My whole career, fighting from age 20 to 30, I’ve gotten into real good shape and gotten out of shape and started getting back into shape again. I don’t want to do that anymore.

“Here I am. I’m in shape. I want to have fun for a couple of days, take some time off, eat some good food, and then I want to get right back into all that stuff.

[Sanchez is] really good; he’s really explosive. He’s shown that he has some knockout power and he’s a very good grappler. He’s very hungry; he’s shown that he wants to be a champion someday. This is an important fight.”

“I’d like to get a fight with St. Pierre again, but now that Diego Sanchez is next, once we get the word from Dana White, that’s what we’re gonna be thinkin’ about.”

• The official attendance for UFC 101 was 17,411. UFC President Dana White (pictured) said there were 11,000 fans for first prelim, the most-ever and the arena was nearly full at 16,500 midway through preliminary card.
• The live gate for UFC 101 was $3.55 million, the biggest in Pennsylvania history.
• The UFC awarded $60,000 fight night bonuses for UFC 101, with BJ Penn getting “Submission of the Night”, Anderson Silva getting “Knockout of the Night”, and Silva and Forrest Griffin getting “Fight of the Night”.
• White said he hadn’t seen Griffin since he ran out of the Octagon following the loss to Silva and that he “could be in Georgia for all I know”.
• Silva will return to 185-pounds for his next fight to defend the middleweight title against Dan Henderson.
• The UFC’s lightweight champ Penn will next fight Diego Sanchez.
• Anderson says a fight with light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida will never happen due to their friendship.
• White said the UFC will return to Philadelphia for a future event and is also looking at holding a future card at Fenway Park in Boston.

• The MMAFrenzy.com rumors section has been completely updated. [MMAFrenzy.com/rumors]
• UFC fighters Rousimar Palhares and Thiago Tavares are likely to return in the fall from injuries. [MMAjunkie]
• With just one fight remaining on his current contract, Rich Franklin is ready to renegotiate with the UFC before his next fight. [MMAjunkie]
• Roger Gracie will make his Strikeforce debut against an opponent to-be-named at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on August 15.
• Featherweight contender Wagnney Fabiano will fight at WEC 43 on September 2 in Youngstown, Ohio. An opponent has not yet been set. [MMAjunkie]
• Bobby Lashley will next fight in September. [MMA Fanhouse]
• Gilbert Yvel vs. Paul Buentello has officially been added to the fight card for Affliction: Trilogy.
• Heavyweight veteran Jeff Monson has signed with Ohio-based NAAFS and will debut against Tony Sylvester at Rock N Rumble III at the Nautica Pavilion in Cleveland.
• A timetable for UFC heavyweight Heath Herring’s return has not yet been set. [MMAjunkie]
• Middleweight Rob Kimmons has signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC. [MMAjunkie]
• Mark Hominick vs. Deividas Taurosevicius and LC Davis vs. Javier Vazquez have been booked for the HDNet-televised “Affliction: Trilogy” preliminary card
• Weigh-ins for UFC 100 will take place on Friday, July 10 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, the same venue which will host the July 11 pay-per-view event. (Note: MMAFrenzy.com will be providing a live stream of the weigh-ins)
• WEC lightweight contender and former champion Rob McCullough is likely to return in the “late fall” [MMAjunkie]
• Diego Sanchez will get the next lightweight title shot against the winner of the August 8 matchup between BJ Penn and Kenny Florian. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Ticket sales for UFC 101 on August 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia have surpassed 14,000 for a Pennsylviania record-breaking $3+ million live gate. [MMAjunkie]
• Strikeforce will hold a press conference for the promotion’s August 15 matchup between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos on July 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• Luiz Cane wants to fight Rich Franklin. [MMAjunkie]
• UFC heavyweight Antoni Hardonk thwarts a robbery in LA. [Yahoo! Sports]

[Pictured: Rich Franklin]

Note: Items without bracketed-links ([]) have either been officially announced or confirmed by MMAFrenzy.com

According to NSAC executive director Keith Kizer, fighters Diego Sanchez, Clay Guida, DaMarques Johnson, James Wilks, Ross Pearson, Andre Winner, Chris Lytle, Joe Stevenson, Brad Blackburn, Nick Osipczak, Melvin Guillard, and Tomasz Drwal tested negative at the Spike-televised event, which took place at The Pearl in Las Vegas.

For more TUF 9 Finale coverage click here.

[Pictured: TUF 9 lightweight winner Ross Pearson]

Sanchez earned $90,000 for his main event win over Clay Guida ($23,000), while Stevenson received $70,000 by topping Nate Diaz ($20,000) in the first bout of the Spike-televised main card. The total disclosed payroll for the event (excluding fight night bonuses) was $430,000.

The event took place at The Pearl in Las Vegas and drew a sell-out attendance of 1,800 for a live gate of $500,000.

The official salaries for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, as reported to the NSAC, were:

• Diego Sanchez ($90,000 – includes $45,000 win bonus)* def. Clay Guida ($23,000)*
• James Wilks ($16,000 – includes $8,000 win bonus) def. DaMarques Johnson ($8,000)
• Chris Lytle ($36,000 – includes $18,000 win bonus)* def. Kevin Burns ($9,000)*
• Ross Pearson ($16,000) def. Andre Winner ($8,000)
• Joe Stevenson ($70,000 – includes $35,000 win bonus)* def. Nate Diaz ($20,000)*
• Melvin Guillard ($24,000) – includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Gleison Tibau ($17,000)
• Brad Blackburn ($18,000 – includes $9,000 win bonus) def. Edgar Garcia ($5,000)
• Tomasz Drwal ($15,600 – includes $7,000 win bonus)*^ def. Mike Ciesnoleviscz ($6,400)^
• Nick Osipczak ($16,000 – includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Frank Lester ($8,000)
• Jason Dent ($16,000 – includes $8,000 win bonus)* def. Cameron Dollar ($8,000)

* Salaries do not include fight night bonuses.
^ The salaries of Drwal and Ciesnoleviscz have been adjusted for the 20% ($1,600) Ciesnoleviscz paid Drwal for failing to make weight.

[Pictured: Diego Sanchez]