The Ultimate Fighter Finale Results And Review

Added on Jun 05, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 took place last night in Las Vegas, and it was Tony Ferguson who left the Octagon with as a new UFC welterweight. The fight card overall had a few telling moments, and 2000 in attendance were treated to some decent scraps. Below is the break down, and my notes overview,of the main card.

MAIN CARD (on Spike)

Tony Ferguson (169) vs. Ramsey Nijem (170)

Ramsey Nijem is a gritty fighter, and you can tell he loves throwing punches in the pocket. The thing is grittiness will only take you so far, and I think that was the lesson we learned last night. Fighting that way can win you a lot of fights, and some can go further with it then others, but usually in MMA these days skill wins out. Re-watch this fight, watch Ferguson’s punches and notice how they come straight down the pipe. There were a few that were off angle, and looked weird because of the movement of Nijem, but they went straight out and came straight back. Great striking, and you can tell the move to Death Clutch was a good idea for Tony. At about 4 minutes into a round, after some punches were adding up on Nijem, a straight right sent him to the mat. Ferguson swarmed in and left the Octagon a full time professional fighter.

Ferguson defeated Nijem via KO (punches) at 3:54 of round 1

Clay Guida (155) vs. Anthony Pettis (155)

The main reason this fight was so frustrating to watch is because we have seen fantastic fights out of Clay Guida in the past. I you saw one round of this fight you saw them all, Guida took Pettis down and pretty much held him there while defending submissions. This is the same guy who had an all out war with Diego Sanchez, and has had no problems standing in the pocket trading punches. He gets into one of the biggest fights of his career and he lays and prays his way to a decision?

Yes, Guida won, but he didn’t win any fans. I mean, we didn’t even learn anything about Pettis now being in the UFC, and what the step up looked like. When they were standing it was Pettis using his reach and kicks, but then Guida would take him down again and do nothing. I picked Guida to win this fight, but I didn’t think it would look that bad. This fight had the chance to be the fight of the year, and thats why it was frustrating for me to see.

Guida defeated Pettis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Tim Credeur (185) vs. Ed Herman (186)

Ed Herman has been on the shelf for going on 2 years, after 2 non consecutive knee surgeries, and was coming in with a lot of questions surrounding him. He answered them all, and wasted no time pressuring Credeur and getting him in the clinch. He landed a series of uppercuts that sent Tim to the seat of his pants, and Herman closed the deal with punches from standing mount. At first I thought the stop came a little too soon, but after reviewing it again I am ok with it.

Herman defeated Credeur via TKO (punches) at 0:48 of round 1

Kyle Kingsbury (206) vs. Fabio Maldonado (203)

Fight of the night winner, these guys really went at it. They are both evolving and getting better as fighters, and this fight gave us a glimpse of their progress. They both have things to learn, they are far from complete fighters, but they both showed improved striking and foot work. The most impressive thing about this were the body shots that Maldonado was landing to the torso of Kingsbury. They seemed to have added up at the end of the first round, but Kingsbury came out fresh in the second, and clearly won the round.

The argument can be made that Maldonado won this fight, but I’m not so sure after watching it twice. He really came out and I think he has what it takes to make a name for himself in the UFC. The same goes for the winner of this fight as well, he was making some mistakes in the cage that would have saved him a lot of punishment to the body with the Thai Plum. Maldonado will probably end up back in the Octagon, and it may happen before Kingsbury fights again. Reports are coming out that he broke his orbital bone.

Kingsbury defeated Maldonado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Chris Cope (170) vs. Chuck O’Neil (170)

O’Neil has a long way to go, but I expect to see him in the UFC one day. If he plays his cards right, and is able to secure a spot at a decent camp, he definitely has what it takes. Same with Chris Cope, who just outclassed O’Neil in this fight and scored a decision win. I would have liked to see Cope put away O’Neil, but Cope just couldn’t finish the fight. It seemed like he was trying the whole time, and O’Neil took some punishment, but he really needs to work on his foot work as it was a mess at times in this fight.

Cope defeated O’Neil via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary (on facebook)

Danny Downes (155) vs. Jeremy Stephens (156)

Stephens defeated Downes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

Josh Grispi (145) vs. George Roop (146)

Roop defeated Grispi via TKO (liver punch) at 3:14 of round 3

Shamar Bailey (171) vs. Ryan McGillivray (169)

Bailey defeated McGillivray via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Justin Edwards (170) vs. Clay Harvison (171)

Harvison defeated Edwards via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Scott Jorgensen (135) vs. Ken Stone (136)

Jorgensen defeated Stone via KO (punch) at 4:01 of round 1