Finale

(Track 15 on Shiny Happy Jihad.)

The one-hour stand-up comedy special that UFC color-man Joe Rogan filmed in Columbus before UFC 96 has finally gotten an airdate: June 20th at midnight ET/PT, directly following the broadcast of The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K. finale. As Rogan confirmed during an appearance on The Greg Fitzsimmons Show yesterday, his will be the first of several comedy specials that Spike will air this year, and the late-night time slot allows it to be aired uncensored. ("I couldn't believe it. They don't have to cut anything.")

Sounds like a kickass night of free entertainment. To refresh your memories, the TUF 9 finale card be lookin' like this:

MAIN CARD
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
Welterweight TUF finalist vs. welterweight TUF finalist (TBA)
Lightweight TUF finalist vs. lightweight TUF finalist (TBA)
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Anthony Johnson vs. Matt Brown

UNDERCARD
Tomasz Drwal vs. Eric Schafer
Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Melvin Guillard vs.Thiago Tavares
Brad Blackburn vs. Edgar Garcia
Other matches between TUF 9 castmembers (TBA)

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('Did you say lisp?  Sounded like you did, homey, and I'm just curious whose lisp you might have been talking about, 'cause I don't see Richard Simmons around here anywhere.  Just me.')

Looks like two more fighters are taking the step backwards from the numbered UFC events to small potatoes shows on Spike, as MMA Madness reports that Nate Diaz will take on Joe Stevenson at the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter” season nine on June 20 in a battle of lightweights who are in need of a win.

This is the same event expected to feature Diego Sanchez (who last beat Stevenson) taking on Clay Guida (who last beat Diaz) as its headlining bout.  So at least the four of them can all get together again, maybe have an awkward dinner at Chili’s.  Kind of like hanging out with your new girlfriend and your ex-girlfriend, who is now dating your new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.  Just weird enough to be interesting.

MMATraining.com also reports that later in the summer, at an as of yet unannounced Fight Night event on August 5, Kurt Pellegrino will face Josh Neer, who recently saved his behind with a victory over Mac Danzig.  The fight’s expected to be the main event, though it’s also the only fight we’ve heard of for this thing and with it being so far in the future, who knows.  Best to keep Neer out of the bars between now and then.

(Photos courtesy of UFC.com)

After a long, arduous, bodily-fluid-filled season of The Ultimate Fighter, we've finally made it to the end. It's time to see who's worthy of the hype, who's ready for the big show, who's taking home the six-figure contracts. If you're not psyched for this, go watch Bromance you freakin' fairy. For everyone else, hit that "Read More" link and refresh the page every few minutes for live round-by-round updates and commentary.

SPOILER ALERT: This liveblog kicks off at 9 p.m. ET, but the broadcast is tape-delayed on the West Coast (and possibly other parts of the country). Check your local listings, and keep in mind that we may be writing about things you haven't seen yet. So if you're coming in, scroll carefully.

(Props: MMA Weekly)

Weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter 8 finale went down earlier today at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and every fighter successfully made weight — except for Wilson Gouveia, who came in four pounds heavy for his middleweight tilt against Jason MacDonald. Way to set a good example for the new guys, Will. Full results are below...

MAIN CARD
Efrain Escudero (156) vs. Phillipe Nover (155)
Ryan Bader (205) vs. Vinicius Magalhaes (205)
Kevin Burns (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (171)
Wilson Gouveia (189) vs. Jason MacDonald (184)
Junie Browning (156) vs. Dave Kaplan (156)

UNDERCARD
Shane Primm (202) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (205)
Jules Bruchez (205) vs. Eliot Marshall (203)
Kyle Kingsbury (205) vs. Tom Lawlor (204)
Shane Nelson (156) vs. George Roop (153)
Roli Delgado (155) vs. John Polakowski (152)

Update from UFC.com: "Gouveia did not make weight and for safety reasons, the Nevada State Athletic Commission won't allow him to make a second weight cutting attempt. The bout will go on at a catch weight of 189 pounds, and Gouveia will forfeit 20% of his purse to MacDonald." Weigh-in photos are here.

(Phillipe just has to finish up some nurse shit, then he'll be right in to kick your ass.  Thanks for your patience.)

Trying to come up with odds on guys who most of us have only seen fight under very specific circumstances has got to be a difficult job.  For all we know, maybe John Polakowski really is "a mean guy" in the Octagon, and maybe Dave Kaplan only looked bad because he went with the ill-advised, "block with your face" strategy that he now knows is a mistake.  We just can't be sure.

Fortunately internet bookies feel they are up to the task of sorting out all the woulda-coulda stuff, and as a result we can still throw our money away on Saturday night’s Spike TV TUF 8 Finale show.  Below are the best odds in town, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com.

Efrain Escudero (+334) vs. Phillipe Nover (-364)
Vinicius Magalhaes (-165) vs. Ryan Bader (+160)
Jason MacDonald (+119) vs. Wilson Gouveia (-125)
Anthony Johnson (-225) vs. Kevin Burns (+205)
Dave Kaplan (+322) vs. Junie Browning (-325)
Krzysztof Soszynski (-345) vs. Shane Primm (+315)
Eliot Marshall (-551) vs. Jules Bruchez (+501)
Kyle Kingsbury (-116) vs. Tom Lawlor (+106)
George Roop (EVEN) vs. Shane Nelson (-108)
John Polakowski (-122) vs. Roli Delgado (+112)

Thoughts...