UFC awards record three "Fight of the Night" bonuses after entertaining TUF 9 Finale

Originally posted on MMAjunkie.com

LAS VEGAS - Faced with the unenviable task of determining a "Fight of the Night" award winner among three more-than-deserving candidates at Saturday's The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, UFC officials made the only decision they possibly could.

Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida, Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns and Joe Stevenson vs. Nate Diaz were all named the evening's "Fights of the Night" winners for a record three awards and each competitor earned an additional $25,000 for his performance.

The amounts, which were on par with the $25,000 awards issued at the December 2008 TUF 8 Finale, and winners were confirmed by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following the event.

Stevenson and Diaz kicked off the evening's televised card with an entertaining ground battle that provided 15 minutes of exciting action. Stevenson earned the much-needed unanimous-decision win, and the pair seemed well on their way to the evening's "Fight of the Night" award. That is, until Lytle and Burns waged their stand-up contest.

Both Lytle and Burns each took turns on the winning end of a stand-up brawl, but "Lights Out" came back from nearly having his own lights shut off in the opening frame to earn a unanimous decision win in a bloody, three-round affair with Burns.

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