The UFC will host its first event in Virginia on January 11 as UFC Fight Night 20 takes place at the Patriot Center in Fairfax just outside of Washington, D.C. The Spike TV-televised event is headlined by a lightweight matchup between contenders Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz, while Efrain Escudero takes on Evan Dunham in the evening’s co-main event.

Lightweight contender Gray Maynard and The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner Nate Diaz will meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night 20 on January 11 in Fairfax, Virginia, Diaz’s camp announced on Tuesday. The matchup is a rematch from The Ultimate Fighter 5 semifinals, when Diaz submitted Maynard with a guillotine choke in the second-round of the bout.

The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission has issued medical suspensions to only three fighters who were in action at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 19 card in Oklahom City. Headliner Nate Diaz as well as preliminary card fighters CB Dollaway and Justin Buchholz were all issued 30-day suspensions for cuts suffered in their bouts at the event.

Nate Quarry’s $60,000 payday for his main card win over Tim Credeur at UFC Fight Night 19 on Wednesday in Oklahoma City topped the event’s $476,000 payroll, according to official fighter salary figures released on Monday by the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission.

Nate Diaz and Carlos Condit were also among the card’s top earners, pocketing $48,000 apiece for their main card victories.

The UFC on Wednesday awarded $30,000 “fight night” bonuses to Nate Diaz, Jeremy Stephens, Nate Quarry, and Tim Credeur for their performances at UFC Fight Night 19.

Diaz took home “Submission of the Night” for his main event guillotine of Guillard, Stephens received “Knockout of the Night” for his stoppage of Justin Buchholz due to cuts on the preliminary card, while Quarry and Credeur earned “Fight of the Night” for their three-round war the kicked off the event’s Spike TV-broadcast.

Following an early knockdown at the hands of Melvin Guillard in the UFC Fight Night 19 headliner, Nate Diaz took advantage of his first opportunity on the ground, forcing Guillard to tap to a guillotine choke in the second-round of the main event.

The finish capped off the Spike TV-televised card, which took place at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Tomorrow night Oklahoma City is UFC Ultimate Fight Night 19, headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard. There are certainly some interesting match ups, and a few that on paper seem a bit one sided. I decided I would go on the record with my official predictions for the event, and so have some of the other staff here at MMAFrenzy.

Despite a hard weight cut, UFC Fight Night 19 headliner Nate Diaz successfully made weight at Tuesday’s official weigh-ins for the event, weighing in exactly at the 156-pound non-title lightweight limit, while his main event opponent, Melvin Guillard, tipped the scale one pound lighter at 155. The rest of the 11-bout card also successfully made weight on their first attempt.

Ultimate Fighter 5 lightweight winner Nate Diaz will look to rebound from back-to-back losses when he takes on Melvin Guillard in the main event of UFC Fight Night 19 on September 16 in Oklahoma City.

The UFC announced the 155-pound matchup on Tuesday, with another lightweight matchup between Roger Huerta and Gray Maynard set to co-headline the Spike-televised card.

Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson, who both recorded victories on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, topped the list of official salaries for the event, which were released today by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

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 UFC awarded a surprising-but-deserved three “Fight of the Night” awards on Saturday to Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida, Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns, and Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz for their entertaining performaces at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, which took place at The Pearl in Las Vegas and aired live on Spike TV.

All six “Fight of the Night” winners, along with Jason Dent who earned “Submission of the Night” and Tomasz Drwal who was awarded “Knockout of the Night”, received $25,000 bonuses.

Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida delivered on their Fight of the Year hype, engaging in a three-round war in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale on Saturday that saw Sanchez edge Guida by split decision on the judge’s scorcards.

The rest of the card failed to disappoint either as Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns traded blows in a bout that deserved Fight of the Night before being upstaged by Sanchez and Guida, Joe Stevenson looked impressive in topping Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in a technical battle, and welterweight James Wilks and lightweight Ross Perason were crowned The Ultimate Fighter 9 champions with victories on the Spike-televised main card.

Lightweight headliners Clay Guida (155) and Diego Sanchez (156) successfully made weight on Friday at the weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, as did TUF 9 welterweight finalists DaMarques Johnson (170) and James Wilks (171) and lightweight finalists Ross Pearson (156).

The event takes place on Saturday at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, the same venue which hosted today’s weigh-ins, and airs live on Spike TV beginning at 9pm ET.

Though bout agreements are still pending, lightweights Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz have agreed to meet at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale on June 20th in Las Vegas.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has issued medical suspensions to five UFC 94 participants, including BJ Penn, for various injuries suffered in their bouts Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The medical suspensions were:

BJ Penn (defeated by Georges St-Pierre via fourth-round TKO) suspended until March 18th with no contact until March 3rd [...]