The Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in MMA, recapping and putting into context the week's top story, important news and notable quotes.

Top Story

On a night when the ninth set of “The Ultimate Fighter” champions were crowned, the reality show’s very first winner, Diego Sanchez, defeated Clay Guida in a frontrunner for “Fight of the Year” on June 20 in Las Vegas. The two kept a breakneck pace for most of the 15-minute bout, which had significant bearings on the lightweight title picture.

The pre-fight staredowns between Sanchez and Guida may have looked cartoonish, but the in-ring action immediately took on a surreal quality, as well. Both fighters came out winging big punches in a thrilling exchange and then engaged in an up-and-down battle that appeared on the verge of ending several times. One judge gave the fight to Guida, whose most telling offensive moves were a few takedowns and top control in the second round. Sanchez worked diligent uppercuts and flying knees standing, elbows from his back and multiple submission attempts. He worked for a kimura from the bottom, a smattering of Guida’s blood on his torso, as the fight concluded. Guida, ever the fan favorite, earned big cheers and could not stop jogging in place during his post-fight interview, his shorts tinged pink from bloodshed.

Sanchez picked up the split decision with 29-28 and 29-27 scorecards. Judge Patricia Morse Jarman gave the fight to Guida, 29-28, apparently placing the highest possible premium on holding top position and takedowns. Earlier in the event, Jarman had given two rounds to Brad Blackburn in a fight with Edgar Garcia -- a result the live crowd vociferously rejected. The scoring rekindled a time-honored debate in the MMA community about judging and scoring criteria and to what extent certain techniques should be rewarded in an MMA fight.

The thrilling main event headlined a card emanating from the Palms Casino Resort. It proved an action-packed show, as the UFC awarded the principals in three different fights $25,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses. In addition to Sanchez and Guida, Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns received the awards for their three-round slugfest, as did Joe Stevenson and Nate Diaz for their three-round grappling battle. Lytle took a unanimous decision with his wild punching style, and Stevenson picked up a big win after two straight losses and showed heightened sharpness in wake of his training camp with MMA guru Greg Jackson. Sanchez, with a $90,000 purse plus the bonus, was the night’s top earner. His dance partner, Guida, was the fifth-highest earner in terms of disclosed purse, with a $23,000 payday. Stevenson took home $70,000, Lytle $36,000 and Melvin Guillard, who defeated Gleison Tibau, $24,000.

The broadcast drew a 1.5 rating on Spike TV, which translates into an average of 2.2 million viewers -- up from the 1.3 rating drawn by the last “The Ultimate Fighter” Finale in December but down slightly from the 1.6 rating garnered by Sanchez’s last fight on Spike TV, his UFC 95 showdown with Stevenson in February. The 1.5 rating was the highest for a TUF finale since Season 6 in 2007. The Sanchez vs. Guida fight grew the audience in a significant way, as it drew the broadcast’s peak viewership at 2.8 million, well ahead of what the evening’s other fights drew. In the arena were some 1,800 fans that generated a $500,000 gate, according to MMAJunkie.com.

The two new TUF champions, lightweight Ross Pearson and welterweight James Wilks, were both representatives of Team UK and the underdogs entering their respective fights. The wins, which earned both men $16,000 paydays, were trumpeted by the UFC as an indication of how rapidly the skill level of UK fighters has grown, though Wilks has lived and trained in California most of his career. The broadcast included feature vignettes of each finalist’s home training camps.

Wilks, 31, damaged Damarques Johnson with a one-two combination early in the first round and tied him up in several compromising positions on the floor before wresting a rear-naked choke for the tapout. Chants of “USA!” from the live crowd could not prevent Johnson’s surrender. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Pearson took a 29-28 unanimous decision over Andre Winner, his former training partner. Pearson was resilient in pushing forward despite Winner’s ability to counteract his takedowns and execute technical striking. Winner began to let big punches through toward the end of a close second round, and Pearson poured on more aggression to clinch the fight in the third.

Picking up wins in non-televised bouts were Guillard, Blackburn, Tomasz Drwal and TUF 9 cast members Jason Dent and Nick Osipczak. Dent’s anaconda choke submission against Cameron Dollar won him the “Submission of the Night” bonus; Drwal banked the “Knockout of the Night” bonus after he stopped Mike Ciesnolevicz at the end of a knee. Ciesnolevicz was released from the UFC after the loss, MMA Weekly reported.

The broadcast included the first ads for “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10, built mostly around the scowling cadence of key cast member Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson. It premieres Sept. 16.