Sanchez-Guida to headline Ultimate Fighter 9 finale

Diego Sanchez made his lightweight debut in a headlining bout at UFC 95 in England in February. The mercurial fighter's second act in his new divisional home will again be a headlining bout. He and Clay Guida have agreed to headline The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 finale on June 20 in Las Vegas, according to a report from Loretta Hunt at Sherdog.com.

Sanchez's 155-pound debut was an impressive unanimous decision victory over former top-10-ranked lightweight Joe Stevenson. With many question marks surrounding his weight drop, Sanchez answered with an emphatic 15 minutes of intensity and quickness, showing he hadn't lost a step along with the 15 pounds.

Following back-to-back losses to top-five-ranked welterweights Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck in 2007, Sanchez is now riding a three-fight winning streak.

He'll look to keep that intact when he steps into the Octagon with Guida at the Pearl in the Palms in June.

A former lightweight champion for Strikeforce, Guida has had a roller coaster career in the UFC. He was 2-3 in his first five bouts for the promotion. Since losing an epic battle to Roger Huerta to end 2007, Guida has redirected his focus, reeling off three straight victories.

In his two most recent wins, Guida has knocked off two Ultimate Fighter winners, Mac Danzig and, most recently, Nate Diaz. He hopes to make it three T.U.F. winners when he faces Sanchez, who won the inaugural season of the venerable reality series.