TUF Finale Guida vs. Pettis: Power Ranking the 12 Ultimate Fighter Finales

Clay "The Carpenter" Guida will be making his third appearance in a main event of a Ultimate Fighter Finale when he takes on WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony "Showtime" Pettis this weekend.

If Guida's (28-11) past TUF fights have been any indication, he likes to put on fight of the year candidates, and he's done it twice in bouts with Roger Huerta and Diego Sanchez.

His opponent, Pettis (13-1), also likes to put on a show for the fans. His last fight versus Ben Henderson was the 2010 fight of the year on many peoples' lists.

Also, a new Ultimate Fighter winner will be crowned in the welterweight division. Other bouts include Kyle Kingsbury vs. Fabio Maldonado and Ed Herman vs. Tim Credeur.

Like the finales before it, it is sure to be one to remember.

These are the previous 12 finales ranked from worst to best.

No. 12: The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz Finale

In the main event of the evening, Court McGee defeated Kris McCray to become the new Ultimate Fighter winner in the middleweight division.

Other notable performances include Chris Leben's second-round TKO over previously unbeaten Aaron Simpson. This fight is most memorable for being the first of two Leben bouts in the span of two weeks. He would fill in for Wanderlei Silva at UFC 116 to face Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Other bouts include Jamie Yager vs. Rich Attonito, Spencer Fisher vs. Dennis Siver and Matt Hamill vs. Keith Jardine.

No. 11: The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale

The standout fight on this card was a preliminary bout between Scott Smith and Pete Sell. Smith stole the show when he knocked out Sell after he was nearly put down by a body shot. It is one of the most memorable knockouts in UFC history.

This card may be more remembered for the fights it set up, and the styles it redefined for both fighters in the main event and co-main event.

The fight between Chris Lytle and Matt Serra was a dud, but it was the fight that made Lytle redefine his style to be more exciting and aggressive. Serra won a controversial unanimous decision and got his title shot against Georges St-Pierre, who he upset in the very first round.

Travis Lutter and Patrick Cote also fought to determine the next challenger for middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Other fights include Pete Spratt vs. Jeremy Jackson, Jorge Rivera vs. Edwin DeWees and Din Thomas vs. Rich Clementi.

No. 10: The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale

Rashad Evans battled Brad Imes and won a unanimous decision to become the heavyweight finale winner. Evans would later drop to light-heavyweight where he became the champion when he defeated Forrest Griffin. Imes would go on to fight Heath Herring where he lost a unanimous decision and was booted from the UFC.

Joe Stevenson fought Luke Cummo to determine a TUF winner in the welterweight division. Stevenson would only fight in the welterweight division once more before moving to the lightweight division where he eventually challenged BJ Penn for the title at UFC 81.

Other bouts include Kenny Florian vs. Kit Cope and Diego Sanchez vs. Nick Diaz.

No. 9: The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs Team Forrest Finale

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner would make his final appearance in MMA against Kendall Grove. He lost a decision over three rounds, and soon after planned a trip into the desert. 

After several days of no contact from Tanner, a search was underway. His body was found on September 8th, 2008.

Other fights include Matthew Riddle vs. Dante Rivera, Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens, Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti and Amir Sadollah vs. C.B. Dollaway.

No. 8: The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck Finale

This card had a lot of interesting fights with a controversial decision win for Leonard Garcia in the opening bout versus Nam Phan.

Johny Hendricks and Rick Story also met to determine the next best welterweight challenger. Story would win a decision over three rounds, giving Hendricks the first loss of his career.

Former middleweight title challenger Demian Maia also defeated Kendall Grove.

Other bouts include Stephan Bonnar vs. Igor Pokrajac and Jonathan Brookins vs. Michael Johnson.

No. 7: The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale

This is the only Ultimate Fighter Finale to feature the two coaches in the main event. BJ Penn and Jens Pulver met to settle their rivalry, which started when Pulver defeated Penn at UFC 35 to retain the UFC lightweight championship.

Penn got his revenge, submitting Pulver in the second round.

Nate Diaz also fought Manvel Gamburyan to determine the TUF winner in the lightweight division. An anti-climatic ending occurred when Gamburyan injured his shoulder early in Round 2.

Other main card fights include Roger Huerta vs. Doug Evans and Thales Leites vs. Floyd Sword.

No. 6: The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir Finale

This was a very intriguing card, which featured many prospects in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions.

TUF "bad boy" Junie Browning fought Dave Kaplan in the opener. Wilson Gouveia and Anthony Johnson earned brutal knockouts over their opponents.

Ryand Bader battled Vinny Magalhães and knocked him out in the very first round.

Efrain Escudero defeated Phillipe Nover by unanimous decision in the main event.

No. 5: The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale

For a card that featured two future UFC champions, looking back on it now really puts the significance of these fights into perspective.

Jon Jones would receive the only loss of his career after he was disqualified for throwing "12-to-6" elbows on his opponent Matt Hamill. Jones would go on to battle several opponents before earning a UFC title shot against Mauricio Rua. He defeated "Shogun" in the third round to win the belt.

Frankie Edgar had trouble against Matt Veach early, but he overcame adversity and submitted him in the second round. Edgar would go on to fight Sean Sherk and BJ Penn, defeating both and winning the UFC lightweight championship in his bout with Penn.

Other fights include Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione, Kimbo Slice vs. Houston Alexander and Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub.

No. 4: The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale

This card is most remembered for its fight of the year candidate between Kendall Grove and Ed Herman. It was a back-and-forth war and was the grappling version of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar.

As a result of both fighters' standout performances, they were both awarded UFC contracts even though Grove was given the decision. It was the last time Dana White ever issued two contracts out to two finalists in one fight.

Michael Bisping also made his UFC debut versus the very tough Josh Haynes. He defeated Haynes in the second round by TKO.

Other fights include Keith Jardine vs. Wilson Gouveia and Kenny Florian vs. Sam Stout.

No. 3: The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale

Even though four of the five main card bouts went to decision, they were all very entertaining and featured many of the top challengers in each division.

The main event between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida was 2009's fight of the year, and it was one of the best fights in the history of the Ultimate Fighter finales. Sanchez won a split-decision in a bloody, hard-fought fight between two of the most determined fighters in the UFC.

Chris Lytle and Kevin Burns also fought over three rounds in a bloody war with the majority of the fight taking place on the feet.

Three fight of the night bonuses were given out for this event.

Other fights include Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson, Andre Winner vs. Ross Pearson and DaMarques Johnson vs. James Wilks.

No. 2: The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra Finale

This card featured two of the best fights of 2008.

Before Roger Huerta and Clay Guida battled it out in the main event, Jon Koppenhaver and Jared Rollins fought in a grudge match that lived up to the hype and more. Both showed why mixed martial arts is so compelling, exchanging fists and elbows over three rounds before Koppenhaver eventually stopped his bloodied opponent in the final round.

Huerta was all but out in his fight with Guida before he pulled off one of the best comebacks you will ever see. He rocked Guida with a knee and finished him off with a rear-naked choke in the third round.

Other bouts include Ben Saunders vs. Dan Barrera, George Sotiropoulos vs. Billy Miles and Mac Danzig vs. Tommy Speer.

No. 1: The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale

This event will always be No. 1, and there's no way it can be replaced.

It featured the most important fight in the history of the UFC when Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fought in three of the most exciting rounds to ever take place inside the Octagon, and it wasn't even the main event!

In the main event, Rich Franklin and Ken Shamrock fought in a passing-of-the-guard type of fight where one fighter was on his way up while the other was on his way out. Franklin knocked out Shamrock in the first round and would go on to win the UFC middleweight championship soon after.

Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian also fought in a division neither fighter has any interest of returning to at middleweight. Sanchez overwhelmed Florian in the very first round, defeating him by TKO.