The event is scheduled to take place on June 20 at The Pearl in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and will be airing live on Spike TV.

Lytle is a full-time firefighter and prize fighter that is a veteran of over 40 professional mixed martial arts bouts, over a dozen of which have been fought under the UFC banner. He was a veteran of the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter and has earned fight of the night honors in his last two bouts for the UFC against Paul Taylor, and most recently, Marcus Davis, where Lytle wound up on the losing end of a hard fought split decision.

After going 5-1 as a professional, Burns made his UFC debut count, submitting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Roan Carneiro by triangle choke in the second round of their bout which took place at UFC 85. He followed up the impressive win over Carneiro with a highly controversial TKO victory over Anthony Johnson where Burns repeatedly poked Johnson in the eye until he was no longer able to continue before being knocked out by Johnson in their return match in his most recent bout.

A full list of the bouts expected for the card are listed below:

Lightweight finalist No. 1 vs. No. 2

Welterweight finalist No. 1 vs. No. 2

Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez

Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson

Matt Brown vs. Anthony Johnson

Kevin Burns vs. Chris Lytle

According to MMAWeekly.com, the two have been sent bout agreements and have agreed to the matchup. The finale is scheduled for June 20 and will emanate from the Pearl at the Palm in Las Vegas.

Burns made quite a splash in the UFC as the jiu-jitsu blue belt submitted Roan Carneiro with a triangle choke at UFC 85 in June of 2008. It is was considered a big upset especially considering the fact that Carneiro is a black belt.

Burns would then go on to defeat Anthony Johnson via TKO at UFC Fight Night 14 this past July. Referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight and should have disqualified Burns due to a series of inadvertent eye pokes but instead gave the victory to Burns. Johnson extracted a measure of revenge when the two hooked up at live finale for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter in December, as Johnson knocked Burns out cold from a head kick.

Lytle has fought a who’s who of UFC welterweight champions and challengers in his time with the organization. The Ultimate Fighter season 4 finalist was last seen losing to Marcus Davis at UFC 93. In spite of the loss,  Lytle received a “Fight of the Night” bonus for his role in the exciting encounter.

The TUF 9 finale will be the culmination of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter with which will pit eight fighters from the USA coached by Dan Henderson against eight fighters from the UK being led by Michael Bisping. Bisping and Henderson are scheduled to fight at UFC 100 on July 11.

Below is a master list of all the MMA that will be airing over the next 10 days.
Damn, son. That is A LOT of mixed martial arts. My DVR is gonna get a workout.
What will YOU be watching?

All times Eastern.

Thurs 7/17

• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 11pm – Spike TV (premier)

Friday 7/18

• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 11am – Spike TV (re-air)
• Inside MMA – 9:30pm – HDNet
• Best of DREAM 4 Middleweight Grand Prix – 10:30pm – HDNet

Saturday 7/19

• UFC Unleashed – 4pm-7pm – Spike TV
• UFC Countdown: Silva vs Irvin – 7pm – Spike TV (re-air)
• Affliction BANNED Undercard: Emelianenko vs. Buentello – 8 pm – Fox Sports Net (live)
• Ultimate Knockouts 5 – 8pm – Spike TV
• UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – 9pm-Midnight – Spike TV (live)
• Affliction BANNED: Fedor vs. Sylvia – 9pm – PayPerView (live)
• UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin – Midnight-3am – Spike TV (re-air)

Monday 7/21

• Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals – 2am – HDNet (live)
• Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix Finals – 10pm – HDNet (re-air)

Saturday 7/26

• CBS/EliteXC Smith vs. Lawler II – 9pm – CBS (live)
• UFC 84 Penn vs. Sherk – 9pm – Spike TV (re-air)

(if we missed anything, let us know)

Born in Huntington Beach, Calif., the 37-year old father of three also owns and operates his own fight school in Victorville, Calif. According to Denny, the school has over 200 tuition students, including 34 professional and amateur fighters that train under him.

Despite a professional fight career that dates all the way back to 1999, Denny now finds himself on the verge of graduating from the California MMA scene and onto the national stage. On Saturday July 26, he will receive the biggest opportunity of his career when he squares off against Nick Diaz in a 160 pound lightweight clash during CBS and EliteXC’s second-ever telecast of “Saturday Night Fights.”

Denny made his EliteXC debut during a March ShoXC event in which he was declared the victor by disqualification after being on the receiving end of illegal elbows from Malaipet Team Diamond. Against Diaz, a fighter who he has been scheduled to fight several times in the past, Denny finds himself playing the underdog role as he takes a major step up in competition. It’s a role he has played many times in the past and one that he relishes.

“I’ll take being the underdog any day of the week than being the (favorite),” Denny was quoted as saying during a conference call with the media this past week. “When you’re expected to win and you’re expected to perform and you’re in front of all your fans, you have so much more pressure. Everybody’s expecting me to lose. Everybody thinks I don’t even belong in there. Man, I’m excited because everybody felt I didn’t belong in the ring with Tony Fryklund, that he was going to smoke me. I was an 8?1 underdog, whatever. I went out there and finished him in 1 minute and 12 seconds. I love fighting when I’m the guy who shouldn’t even be in there.”

While Denny is getting the opportunity to compete on primetime network television, he is doing so in Diaz’s hometown of Stockton, Calif. But just as he is unphased by being in the role of underdog, Denny sounds unconcerned about Diaz having a potential hometown advantage.

“It’s just him and I when we get in there,” Denny responded when asked if he felt fighting in Stockton was a disadvantage. “Obviously he’s going to feel a little more pressure than I am, because that’s all his friends and fans. They all hate me as it is. So do I have pressure? Not really. I think if you look at it, he’s going to be the one dealing with a little more adversity than I am. I’m expecting them to throw bottles at me, cuss at me, flip me off, everything else. If he goes out there and loses in front of his hometown, he’s the one that’s going to be shunned upon. I feel he has more pressure than I do.”

While Denny is pretty relaxed when it comes to the issues of Diaz being favored and fighting in his hometown, he wasn’t as laid back when asked about Diaz’s inability to make weight for his June 14 fight in Hawaii against Muhsin Corbbrey.

“Rules are rules,” he answered when asked about fighters not making weight. “They’re meant to be followed. If you sign a contract that says you’re going to weigh 160, you should come in at 160, not 169. So, I don’t know, I just think it’s unprofessional.”

While Corbbrey was willing to sign off on the weight disparity, Diaz better be on weight this time around, otherwise, there might not be a fight.

“If he comes in nine pounds overweight, the fight probably won’t happen,” remarked Denny. “It’s just ridiculous. I think he knows and he has something to prove that he is a professional. So I think he’ll come on weight and I think the fight will happen.”

But Denny isn’t looking for a way out. The fight vs. Diaz is one that he wants to happen, as he knows what an upset win would do for his career.

“It shoots me to the top [if I win], man and hopefully sets me up for a fight against K.J. [Noons] or Yves [Edwards],” Denny said. “I would love to fight K.J for the belt. That’s a lot to ask for. But, hopefully, I go out and shine like I feel like I should and maybe I’ll get recognized enough to get the title shot.”

FiveOuncesOfPain.com

The bout is one of three that is slated to air on SHOWTIME at 8 p.m. ET, an hour before CBS’ portion of the card goes live at 9 p.m. ET. The other SHOWTIME bouts include a featherweight clash between Wilson Reis and Brian Caraway along with Antonio Silva and Justin Eilers competing for the vacant EliteXC heavyweight title.

Feijao, a former heavyweight in the IFL, is 2-0 since joining EliteXC. He recorded a first round TKO over John Doyle in his debut for the promotion, which came this past February in Miami at “Street Certified.” He returned to the cage in June in Hawaii at “Return of the King,” where he recorded another first round TKO, this time over Wayne Cole.

In addition to competing for King of the Cage, Galbraith fought once for PRIDE, losing to Kazuhiro Nakamura via a TKO in the second round at PRIDE 32 in October of 2006. He’s currently on a two fight win steak and last competed on June 20 for the Raw Combat promotion, where he submitted Martin Desilets with a triangle choke at 4:14 of round 1.

MMAmania is reporting that SpikeTV will air UFC 84: Ill Will (Penn vs Sherk) at the same time CBS runs their second installment of Saturday Night Fights (Lawler vs Smith II) on July 26th.This comes one week after UFC will run counter programming in the form of Anderson Silva vs James Irvin to battle Affliction: Banned on PPV. I’m someone that says competition is never a bad thing and only breeds new innovations. If you’ll remember, UFC ran programming to battle EXC’s first CBS show but that show still drew massive ratings for it’s demographic. In summation:

In addition, Spike TV will feature a full day of mixed martial arts programming that begins at 4 p.m. ET with a rebroadcast of UFC Fight Night 14: “Silva vs. Irvin” special that is set to take place on Saturday, July 19.

Another full day of MMA on Spike from the UFC. While the Silva vs Irvin event is battling a pay-per-view, one has to wonder how a UFC replay will do against a CBS network show for Elite XC. Only time will tell but you can’t blame anyone for trying.

A featherweight (140 lbs.) bout between Wilson Reis and Brian Caraway is the latest fight to be added to EliteXC’s upcoming “Unfinished Business” card on July 26 in Stockton, Calif.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news after contacting EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw.

According to Shaw, the Reis vs. Caraway matchup will be the opener of SHOWTIME’s telecast at 8 p.m. ET, which will feature two fights and lead into CBS’ second-ever telecast of “Saturday Night Fights” at 9 p.m. ET.

Shaw also revealed to Five Ounces of Pain that light heavyweight sensation Rafael Feijao could be added to the card if a proper opponent can be secured.

A title will not be at stake when Reis and Caraway fight. Shaw indicated that it could be until next year until a title at 140 pounds is instituted by the promotion.

Reis, one of the fasting rising stars in the lighter weight ranks, is 2-0 in EliteXC and 4-0 lifetime as a pro. He made his EliteXC debut during the promotion’s ShoXC event this past January in Atlantic City, N.J., where he submitted former Division I wrestler Zach Makovsky with a rear naked choke in round 2. He followed up the win by submitting Justin Robbins with another rear naked choke, this time in round 1, during the undercard of EliteXC’s debut on CBS’ “Saturday Night Fights” in Newark, N.J. this past May.

Caraway fought and won on last Friday’s Strikeforce show that featured Josh Thomson winning the Strikeforce lightweight title from Gilbert Melendez. Fighting Alvin Cacdac, Caraway won via a rear naked choke submission at 1:39 of round 1. The victory was his seventh straight and improved his overall record to 9-2.

Training under Dennis Hallman, Caraway is undefeated at fights contested at 145 lbs. or lower.

Silva will face extra scrutiny to get cleared for active duty in the Golden State. The 6-foot-4, nearly 300-pound goliath was removed from a K-1 “Dynamite USA” roster over a year ago after pre-fight medical tests revealed a pituitary gland tumor in the 26-year-old’s cranial region.

Under the commission’s recommendation, “Pezao” underwent surgery last summer to remove the tumor.

Let us all hope the bout occurs as it gives us a rare fight between big men from formerly separated organizations. Kharitonov‘s last bout was a beatdown of Alistair Overeem in K-1 to overcome his shoulder injury and knees to the face in their previous bout. Antonio Silva’s last bout was a not all that impressive decision win over Ricco Rodriguez at Showtime’s EXC Street Certified event in February.

I’d look highly forward to this bout but whenever Armando Garcia is in any small way involved I’ll just assume something excellent isn’t going to happen until I see it with my own eyes.

The former King of the Cage champion has agreed to face resident troublemaker Nick Diaz in his hometown of Stockton, Calif. on EliteXC’s second CBS-televised card at the Stockton Arena on July 26. Contracts are expected to be inked Tuesday.

My feeling is that Denny is just a filler opponent before Diaz fights Noons for the EliteXC title. Denny is a fighter who likes fighting on the ground and doesn’t pose too much of a problem for Diaz on his feet. Diaz is better at every facet of MMA than Denny. As long as Diaz doesn’t take him lightly this shouldn’t be too much of a test.

I do, however, wonder why Noons vs. Diaz isn’t taking place. Gary Shaw trotted Diaz out to the center of the cage after Noons’ last victory to hype up a fight between the two and now all the hype they created has been killed by this fight announcement of Denny vs. Diaz. Hopefully some answers will come to light.

Diaz is still expected to compete on the card but it’s not clear who he will face off against come July 26. Could EliteXC be saving this fight for another CBS card down the line? Too many titles on the line during one card? Stay tuned.