Forrest Griffin. Rashad Evans. Matt Serra. Tony Ferguson?
In defeating Ramsey Nijem with a first-round knockout Saturday night in Las Vegas at the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, Ferguson became the winner of the 13th season of the Spike reality show. That earned the 27-year-old welterweight the “six-figure contract” that UFC president Dana White loves to tout at these finales, and with it he gets the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of past TUF champions Griffin (Season 1), Evans (Season 2) and Serra (Season 4), all of whom went on to win a UFC championship. Forrest and Rashad wore the belt at light heavyweight and Matt at welter after a stunning 2007 upset of Georges St-Pierre.
Ferguson put on a stunning performance of his own. Coming into the finale with a 10-2 record built in various minor-league MMA outfits in his native California, he jump-started his new career in the big show with an electrifying finish. After displaying strong wrestling he skills he hadn’t shown off during the TV show — perhaps the result of training for this bout at the wrestling-heavy camp of his TUF coach, Brock Lesnar — Ferguson returned to his bread and butter, connecting with a big left hook that floored and immobilized Nijem, followed by a couple of flush rights that stiffened the 24-year-old before referee Josh Rosenthal could jump at 3:54 of the round.
“Holy crap, man,” Ferguson said as he was watching the end of the fight on a big screen in the arena. “It’s kind of like, I don’t remember even throwing that. I know he got me a couple of times, but I weathered the storm. I knew he was going to try to take me down, so just like B.J. Penn and [Jon] Fitch, you know, take him out of his own game.”
Penn and Fitch are excellent role models for Ferguson, just like Griffin, Evans and Serra. Ramsey Nijem might want to look toward Josh Koscheck and Gray Maynard. Neither man went as far onThe Ultimate Fighter as Nijem did — they lost in the semifinals — but both have since made it all the way to a UFC championship fight. Maynard, who is still undefeated after a rousing New Year’s Night draw with lightweight champ Frankie Edgar, will again challenge for the belt once he and Edgar are recovered from injuries that postponed their rematch.
Of course, winning TUF guarantees nothing. OK, sure, it does assure a fighter of money and exposure, but that exposure could end up leading Ferguson out of the Octagon and into a fight promotion like Moosin: God of Martial Arts, which is where Season 4 middleweight winner Travis Lutter fought his last fight. Season 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escudero’s last bout was at Taichi Palace Fights 9 in Lemoore, Calif. Both Lutter and Escudero lost those lower-tier fights.
The moral of the story? Ferguson and Nijem both could do worse than to model themselves after Clay Guida, at least in work ethic. The lightweight known as “The Carpenter” hammered a nail into the coffin of some UFC matchmaking plans Saturday night, smothering Anthony Pettis for three rounds on the way to a unanimous decision victory in the co-main event.
Pettis, last seen landing the cage-walking highlight-reel kick that won him the WEC belt from Ben Henderson back in December, came into the bout as the leading candidate for a title shot against the Edgar-Maynard III survivor. Guida came in as a guy with great hair. True, he’d beaten former Pride and Shooto champion Takanori Gomi in his last fight, but the true shining moments in his 14-fight UFC career have come when bonus checks were handed out, as he’s pocketed Fight of the Night bonuses three times and a Submission of the Night check twice. That, as much as having your hand raised, is a way to make yourself indispensable to Dana White.
Against “Showtime” Pettis, Guida (29-8) was the leading man, taking down the 23-year-old six times in seven attempts, manhandling him on the mat and against the cage, landing elbows and shoulder blows and remaining in control. Pettis (11-2) did show himself to be more than a one-kick wonder, though. When he had space, he drew roars from the crowd with a variety of kicks. And while on his back, he relentlessly tried submissions.
But you simply don’t out-relent Guida. After Pettis, once again being smothered in the third round, reversed position and took full mount, Guida reversed back and seized command, which he maintained to the final horn.
“We showed them what wrestling’s all about,” said Guida. “I want to show that I’m the No. 1 contender.” He’s actually hoping he’s already shown that to White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who probably thought their next challenger for the lightweight belt would come out of this bout, but might not have expected it to be Guida. “If you guys want to see the most exciting lightweight fight in the world, put me in the ring.”
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