The Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in MMA, recapping the week’s top attraction, important news, notable quotes and most enduring photos.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship launched its push for back-to-back events this week, which starts with a free presentation of UFC 89 Saturday night on Spike TV from Birmingham, England. A well-produced "Countdown to UFC 89" episode on Spike TV delved deeply into the uniquely articulate Chris Leben, who faces Michael Bisping in Saturday's main event, touching on the scrappy fighter’s rough-and-tumble childhood and his battles with alcohol.

Bisping, for his part, told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show this week that he doesn't see much difference in Leben's approach to fighting despite the changes in his personality. The two fighters have been cordial, as a cornrow-sporting Leben complimented Bisping on his suit and Bisping complimented Leben on his painted toenails in a press conference on Thursday.

UFC 89, which will air on a six-hour tape delay in the United States, has proven to be a better live arena than television draw. MMAPayout.com reported the “Countdown” special’s Monday night premiere drew 423,000 viewers on Spike TV, much less than the 701,000 viewers who watched the last preview special for UFC 88 featuring Chuck Liddell. But 7,500 out of 8,000 available tickets were sold as of last week for a $1.25 million gate for the UFC's first show in the city, according to The Wrestling Observer. UFC President Dana White has talked about eyeing a soccer stadium in England for a show if Bisping continues to win and gets into title contention.

The card also features Brandon Vera vs. Keith Jardine in a fight that has implications not only for the light heavyweight ranks, but also for Vera's leverage in upcoming contract negotiations. The remaining televised fight card boasts Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor at welterweight, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Luis Cane at light heavyweight and Chris Lytle vs. Paul Taylor at welterweight.

The UFC also set several wheels in motion this week for its next pay-per-view offering: UFC 90 on Oct. 25 from Rosemont, Ill., the promotion's debut in the Chicago market. The show, headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote for the middleweight title, had its co-main event fall through on Monday, as Diego Sanchez pulled out of a fight with Thiago Alves after suffering a rib injury in training. Alves will now face Josh Koscheck, who just last week was announced as facing Yoshiyuki Yoshida in the main event of a Dec. 10 Spike TV special. Yoshida's manager told Sherdog.com that Koscheck is still interested in fighting in December, and that the Yoshida bout has not been called off. Sanchez is a possibility for Yohsida as well, if Koscheck gets injured.

In another change-up, Goran Reljic pulled out of a scheduled middleweight fight with Thales Leites, his management telling Sherdog.com that he suffered a lower back injury. Drew McFedries will now fight Leites. Also confirmed for UFC 90 this week is a lightweight tilt between Gray Maynard and Rich Clementi.

The dynamic of the Silva-Cote main event was complicated by Silva's reiterated comments to Sherdog.com this week that he is planning on retiring after fulfilling his current six-fight commitment to the UFC. Silva did not participate in a media conference call to hype UFC 90 this week as scheduled; his manager Ed Soares did not downplay the retirement talk as strongly as he has in the past and said Silva’s plan has long been to retire at age 35.

Spike TV will air a "UFC All Access" special on Silva next week, and DirecTV will air the UFC 90 weigh-ins live on Oct. 24. The event has already set an All-State Arena gate record of $2.6 million with 10,000 tickets sold as of last week, according to The Wrestling Observer.

The industry leader then turns to potentially one of its biggest events in history with UFC 92 on Nov. 15 from Las Vegas, headlined by UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture's return to the Octagon against Brock Lesnar.