TUF 13 Finale main card spotlight – Tony Ferguson vs. Ramsey Nijem

While the level of talent on the show this season was highly criticised, few could deny that the cream has risen to the top and the two most talented guys in the house have reached the season finale. Tony ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson was best known for his sharp dress-sense on fight days and vicious striking game but the brash Californian also rubbed the entire cast up the wrong way with his obnoxious behaviour when drunk.
Ferguson opened his account with a thrilling slugfest with Justin Edwards in the first round, landing a stunning knockout before moving on to face Ryan McGillivray in the quarter-finals. ‘El Cucuy’ made short work of the Canadian, adding him to his growing list of early stoppages with his heavy hands. In the semi-finals, the heavy-handed Ferguson dispatched of Chuck O’Neil with a legkick-heavy assault over three rounds and eventually crumbled him in the third round.
Ramsey Nijem baffled his housemates with his habit of stripping off when drunk and acting, shall we say, effeminately. But the wrestler from Utah was serious business inside the cage, beginning with a comprehensive choking out of highly-touted Charlie Rader in round one. Nijem moved on to the quarter-finals where he repeated the feat against tough brawler Clay Harvison.
In the semi-finals, Nijem was given a run for his money by Chris Cope, who stuffed several takedown attempts from the athletic wrestler but as both men began to tire and land heavy shots Nijem exploded, dropping Cope and hammering out a third round stoppage. Coach Dos Santos had said from day one that Ramsey was his best fighter and probably the best on the show, and now the charismatic Nijem will get the chance to prove that.
The Verdict: Ferguson has yet to be tested in the wrestling department as all three of his fights en route to the finale were pretty much stand-up battles, battles he came through with flying colours. Nijem isn’t afraid to throw bombs to set up his takedown attempts and proved against Cope that even when tired he possesses fight-ending power. However, a striking war with Ferguson is not one that Nijem will win, as ‘El Cucuy’ has some very nice ‘MMA boxing’ and good head movement plus that much flaunted knockout power at his disposal. If Ramsey struggled to control Cope with his wrestling, the explosive Ferguson will be harder to pin down and after starting strongly I suspect Nijem will begin to flag and Ferguson will start letting his hands go. Expect the tide to turn on several occasions but Ferguson will land the killer blow in the final round to take the crown. Ferguson, (T)KO, 3^rd round.