Ramsey Nijem, Chris Cope, Tony Ferguson, and Chuck O’Neil are the last men standing on TUF 13, but before their semifinal bouts take place, there’s the little issue of Tony Ferguson’s altercation with Charlie Rader from last week’s episode.
The morning after, it’s quiet in the house, and seemingly no one has any intention of speaking with Ferguson, especially his upcoming opponent (and teammate) O’Neil.
“Tony has burned every last bridge in this house,” he said. Ferguson does man up though, apologizing to his teammates for his drunken behavior, but they’re not buying it.
In the first semifinal matchup, it’s Team dos Santos’ lone rep in the final four, Nijem, against Team Lesnar underdog Cope.
The two size each other up briefly before a wild flurry of punches allows Nijem to close the distance and pin Cope to the fence. After another flurry, he locks Cope up, and after a brief stalemate, the two break. Nijem again throws wild strikes to get inside, and the two battle it out while locked up against the cage. With 1:33 left, referee Steve Mazzagatti restarts the bout, and the fighters engage in some kickboxing as the seconds tick away.
Nijem comes up short on a takedown early in round two, but doesn’t worry about it. Instead, he goes back to his standup attack and he starts throwing and landing wild overhand rights. After getting back to the fence, he starts flurrying with his strikes, and after an unanswered barrage that hurts and drops Cope, Mazzagatti steps in and stops the fight.
Next up is a clash of teammate vs. teammate as Ferguson battles O’Neil.
Ferguson’s striking is sharp and accurate as the fight opens, but O’Neil starts giving back as good as he gets as the round progresses. The action is crisp from both men, but Ferguson starts taking the lead in the final two minutes.
There is more of the same in round, two, but Ferguson begins tagging O’Neil with more flush shots. By now, O’Neil is bloodied, and while he keeps throwing, when he hesitates or misses, Ferguson makes him pay.
Finally in round three, Ferguson closes the show, using leg kicks to slow O’Neil down and a big right hand to drop him. O’Neil gets back to his feet gamely, but after another right to the head and a body shot, O’Neil falls and referee Herb Dean stops it.
The finals are now set – Ramsey Nijem vs. Tony Ferguson, live at The Palms in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 4th.
Here’s the final team breakdown:
Team Lesnar
Len Bentley – Eliminated on episode three by Ryan McGillivray
Charles Rader – Eliminated on episode four by Ramsey Nijem
Tony Ferguson 3-0
Clay Harvison 1-1 – Eliminated on episode eight by Ramsey Nijem
Chuck O’Neil – 2-1 Eliminated on episode six by Zachary Davis. Returned for Wild Card bout and re-entered the competition. Eliminated on episode 10 by Tony Ferguson.
Chris Cope 2-1 – Eliminated on episode 10 by Ramsey Nijem
Nordin Asrih – Eliminated on episode one by Shamar Bailey
Team dos Santos
Shamar Bailey 1-1 – Eliminated on episode eight by Chris Cope
Ryan McGillivray 1-1 – Eliminated on episode nine by Tony Ferguson
Javier Torres – Eliminated on episode two by Chris Cope. Returned for Wild Card bout and was eliminated by Chuck O’Neil
Ramsey Nijem 3-0
Zachary Davis 1-1 – Eliminated on episode nine by Chuck O’Neil
Mick Bowman – Eliminated on episode five by Clay Harvison
Justin Edwards – Eliminated on episode six by Tony Ferguson