TUF 13 Finale Fight Card: Ramsey Nijem Vs. Tony Ferguson Tonight.
The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale airs this Saturday night, June 4th, on Spike TV from the Palms in Las Vegas, NV.
This season's finalists are Tony Ferguson from Team Lesnar and Ramsey Nijem from Team dos Santos, and the evening will be headlined by the salivating match-up between the gravity defying WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, making his Octagon debut, against perennial UFC contender Clay Guida.
Former TUF alums will also make appearances on the main, as Season Three runner up Ed Herman faces Season Seven participant Tim Credeur in a middleweight tilt, and Season Eight cast member Kyle Kingsbury meets Black House striker Fabio Maldonado. There are also some compelling pairings on the preliminary card, so I'll make a quick pass of all of the scheduled match-ups excluding the main event and the Kingsbury vs. Maldonado fight, which Leland Rolling will be previewing separately.
Tony Ferguson (10-2) vs. Ramsey Nijem (4-1)
A walk through Ferguson's record shows some encouraging aspects. In his wins, he's finished every opponent by TKO (6) or submission (3) except one. He has an impressive win over Dave "Hello Japan" Gardner, who, despite the less than favorable rep from his nickname, is actually a decent fighter with wins over Ryan Schultz and Rich Clementi.
Ferguson also defeated James Fanshier, who is a former King of the Cage welterweight champion and Gladiator Challenge welter- and middleweight champion. Fanshier is a gifted striker who represented Team USA in Sanshou at the 7th World Games in China and was also the national light-heavyweight IKF Sanshou champion in 2000. Former WEC fighter Karen Darabedyan and Jorge Gurgel submissionist Jamie Toney account for Ferguson's two losses.
Ramsey Nijem bypassed amateur MMA and started off in 2008 at the pro-level, winning his debut, but then disappearing for a year and a half. His return bout after the layoff was lost by submission, but Nijem tallied three wins a row leading up to the show.
The Palestinian-American trains with Josh Burkman and Court McGee, and was an accomplished wrestler in high school, moving on to the D1 University of Utah Valley to wrestle there as well. Ferguson was also a three-time All State wrestler in high school and later joined Grand Valley State University's wrestling team, a D2 school known for their strong athletics program. Both fighters have one loss by submission, though Ferguson has an additional loss by decision.
Based on what they've shown thus far, Nijem is much more takedown oriented, where Ferguson uses his frightening reach (76") to find his striking rhythm from afar. Nijem's strategy has basically been to distract with a flurry of strikes to veil his takedown attempts, and even though Justin Edwards was able to take Ferguson down, Nijem's intentions should be more expected.
The lines have Nijem as the favorite, but in the brief moments Ferguson was on his back, he spiked a vicious barrage of elbows to his head, and ended up finishing the fight with an up-kick knockout. In fact, Ferguson finished everyone they put in front of him with sharp punches.
Chris Cope was able to fend off Nijem's takedown attempts, and though Ferguson commits to his strikes much more and might succumb to one or two of Nijem's advances, his precise and powerful striking mixed with his well rounded skill set should propel him to a TKO or decision.
The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale airs this Saturday night, June 4th, on Spike TV from the Palms in Las Vegas, NV.
This season's finalists are Tony Ferguson from Team Lesnar and Ramsey Nijem from Team dos Santos, and the evening will be headlined by the salivating match-up between the gravity defying WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, making his Octagon debut, against perennial UFC contender Clay Guida.
Former TUF alums will also make appearances on the main, as Season Three runner up Ed Herman faces Season Seven participant Tim Credeur in a middleweight tilt, and Season Eight cast member Kyle Kingsbury meets Black House striker Fabio Maldonado. There are also some compelling pairings on the preliminary card, so I'll make a quick pass of all of the scheduled match-ups excluding the main event and the Kingsbury vs. Maldonado fight, which Leland Rolling will be previewing separately.
Tony Ferguson (10-2) vs. Ramsey Nijem (4-1)
A walk through Ferguson's record shows some encouraging aspects. In his wins, he's finished every opponent by TKO (6) or submission (3) except one. He has an impressive win over Dave "Hello Japan" Gardner, who, despite the less than favorable rep from his nickname, is actually a decent fighter with wins over Ryan Schultz and Rich Clementi.
Ferguson also defeated James Fanshier, who is a former King of the Cage welterweight champion and Gladiator Challenge welter- and middleweight champion. Fanshier is a gifted striker who represented Team USA in Sanshou at the 7th World Games in China and was also the national light-heavyweight IKF Sanshou champion in 2000. Former WEC fighter Karen Darabedyan and Jorge Gurgel submissionist Jamie Toney account for Ferguson's two losses.
Ramsey Nijem bypassed amateur MMA and started off in 2008 at the pro-level, winning his debut, but then disappearing for a year and a half. His return bout after the layoff was lost by submission, but Nijem tallied three wins a row leading up to the show.
The Palestinian-American trains with Josh Burkman and Court McGee, and was an accomplished wrestler in high school, moving on to the D1 University of Utah Valley to wrestle there as well. Ferguson was also a three-time All State wrestler in high school and later joined Grand Valley State University's wrestling team, a D2 school known for their strong athletics program. Both fighters have one loss by submission, though Ferguson has an additional loss by decision.
Based on what they've shown thus far, Nijem is much more takedown oriented, where Ferguson uses his frightening reach (76") to find his striking rhythm from afar. Nijem's strategy has basically been to distract with a flurry of strikes to veil his takedown attempts, and even though Justin Edwards was able to take Ferguson down, Nijem's intentions should be more expected.
The lines have Nijem as the favorite, but in the brief moments Ferguson was on his back, he spiked a vicious barrage of elbows to his head, and ended up finishing the fight with an up-kick knockout. In fact, Ferguson finished everyone they put in front of him with sharp punches.
Chris Cope was able to fend off Nijem's takedown attempts, and though Ferguson commits to his strikes much more and might succumb to one or two of Nijem's advances, his precise and powerful striking mixed with his well rounded skill set should propel him to a TKO or decision.
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