(Gray Maynard discusses his fight against Nate Diaz, and the prospects of a future title shot against BJ Penn. Props: Sherdog.)

Since we only got to see the four main card fights on last night’s UFC Fight Night 20 broadcast, here’s a recap of the prelims…

– Chris Leben def. Jay Silva via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Rick Story def. Jesse Lennox via split decision (30-27 x 2, 28-29. Due to a scoring error, the bout was initially declared a majority draw.)
– Thiago Tavares and Nik Lentz fought to a majority draw (29-27 Lentz, 28-28 x 2. Tavares was deducted a point for low blows.)
– Rory MacDonald def. Mike Guymon via submission (armbar), 4:27 of round 1
– Rafael dos Anjos def. Kyle Bradley via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
– Gerald Harris def. John Salter via TKO (strikes), 3:24 of round 3
– Nick Catone def. Jesse Forbes via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x 2)

For scoring the night’s only stoppage via strikes, Gerald Harris pocketed a $30,000 Knockout of the Night bonus. Evan Dunham picked up the $30,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his horrible-looking armbar on Efrain Escudero (don’t worry, Effy’s fine). $30k Fight of the Night bumps went to Tom Lawlor and Aaron Simpson for their memorable three-round battle, which saw Simpson get battered half to death in the first round before edging out Lawlor in rounds two and three (according to two judges, at least).

(Mike Guymon highlight reel, courtesy of JokersWildFA.)

Two promising welterweights will be making their Octagon debuts against each other at UFC Fight Night 20, which goes down this coming Monday (1/11) at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Allow us to introduce you to…

MIKE "Joker" GUYMON (WW)
Experience: 11-2-1 record (all wins by stoppage), primarily competing in King of the Cage, where he is the reigning welterweight champion. Last fought in October, when he earned a fourth-round TKO over Quinn Mulhern. Hasn’t lost since a split-decision against Pat Healy at an IFL event in June 2007.
Will be fighting: Rory Macdonald (see below)
Lowdown: With a decade of experience in the game, Mike Guymon has been one of MMA’s most respected ambassadors, serving as one of the original members of the TapouT crew and running his own fight school in California. In December 2008, the 35-year-old captured KOTC’s welterweight title with a fifth-round submission victory over Anthony Lapsley; Guymon has successfully defended his belt twice since then. In August, he made news for a near-tragic suicide attempt/armed standoff in Orange County following troubles in his personal life, but has found peace through re-committing himself to the sport that he loves: "I wanted to prove to people that it’s possible to get in the ring after trying to commit suicide. I sometimes need 16 hours a week of therapy to deal with this thing. But this is living proof not to give up and that good things will happen.”

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)

Fresh off his unanimous decision victory over veteran brawler Phil Baroni at UFC 106, Amir Sadollah will be going right back into action less than two months later. The TUF 7 winner will reportedly face Brad Blackburn in the main card of UFC Fight Night 20 (January 11th; Fairfax, VA); the event will be headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard.

Sadollah’s professional record currently stands at a mere 2-1, including his submission win over CB Dollaway at the TUF 7 Finale and his 29-second TKO loss to Johny Hendricks in August. By contrast, Blackburn has 28 pro fights under his belt and is currently 3-0 in the UFC. "Bad Brad" most recently won a split-decision over Edgar Garcia at the TUF 9 Finale in June, despite being the recipient of the Gnarliest Punch Face of 2009. Blackburn also holds notable victories over Jay Hieron, Ryo Chonan, and Chris Wilson. Will Amir rise to the challenge, or is he straight-up outgunned here?

Speaking of Sadollah’s old foe CB Dollaway, the Doberman also has his next appearance booked, as he’s scheduled to meet Goran Reljic at UFC 110 in February.

After landing big wins at UFC Fight Night 19, Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard have been booked to face each other in the main event of the UFC’s next Fight Night show, which will go down January 11th at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. But it won’t be the first time the two lightweight contenders have gone toe to toe. During his dominant run on TUF 5, Diaz submitted Maynard by guillotine choke in the semi-finals. Since then, Maynard has surpassed Diaz in the 155-pound pecking order, going 6-0 with one no-contest, including decision wins over Frank Edgar, Jim Miller, and Roger Huerta. Diaz went 4-0 after winning his TUF contract, but then lost back-to-back fights to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson before breaking his skid against Melvin Guillard last month.

If he’s victorious, Maynard could find himself squarely in title contention, though a match against the winner of Florian/Guida at UFC 107 seems like a logical eliminator fight. Fun fact: Diaz has won an end-of-night bonus (either Submission of the Night or Fight of the Night) in each one of his last five appearances. Any predictions on how this one will go down?