ufn20Tonight is one of the UFC’s free fight nights on SpikeTV. This one takes place on the George Mason University campus in Fairfax, Virginia. Why is the card taking place on a Monday? I don’t know, but I’m not here to question the nights I get free UFC, I’m just here to enjoy.

Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz will headline the card tonight and it should be entertaining. The two originally met on The Ultimate Fighter season 5 with Diaz winning via submission. Since the show in 2007, Maynard has won 6 straight fights in the UFC and established himself as one of the top contenders in the 155-pound weight class. A win here and he will probably be scheduled as one of BJ Penn’s future victims.

Diaz won TUF 5 and his first five fights inside the Octagon. Two straight loses to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson ruined any shot of a title in 2009, but Diaz bonced back with a submission victory over Melvin Guillard in September. His last five bouts have featured 3 Fight of the Night bonuses and 2 Submissions of the Night. This should be fun.

Undefeated TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero will take on undefeated Evan Dunham in a sorta-co-headlining fight. (They got their faces on the poster!) Dunham and Escudero have won their first two fights in the UFC. My bold prediction is that someone suffers their first loss tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for the draw! I kid. I’ll take Escudero by submission.

Aaron Simpson will take on yet another TUF alum in Tom Lawlor. This will be the first time we’ve seen Lawlor (8-1-0 (1NC)) since he entered the octagon at UFC 100 to the Baja Men. Simpson is undefeated and all his wins have ended in some sort of knock out. This should be a tough test for Lawlor. If Simpson wins here, he’s going to start seeing a new class of fighters in the UFC.

The first fight of the night will be between fan-favorite Amir Sadollah and “Bad” Brad Blackburn. Sadollah is just 2-1, but he won TUF 7 and has become one of the faces of the UFC on Spike because of his self-depreciating personality and sense of humor. In his last fight he won a decision victory in a fight against Phil Baroni that was ugly as hell, but lots of fun to watch. It’s all about personality and potential for Amir. Blackburn is the much more experienced fighter with a 15-9-1 (1NC) record. He’s an IFL veteran who has won his first 3 fights in the UFC. This is a big step up in competition for Amir and a big step up in promotion for Blackburn. And that’s the only reason Blackburn took the fight.

Fights start at 9pm Eastern.

Untelevised Preliminary Fights
Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva
Jesse Lennox vs. Rick Story
Nik Lentz vs. Thiago Tavares
Mike Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald
Kyle Bradley vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Gerald Harris vs. John Salter
Nick Catone vs. Jesse Forbes