Yet another season of The Ultimate Figher (or TUF as it is commonly abbreviated) is in the books; Tony Ferguson proved too much for Ramsey Nijem and was thus awarded the title of “the ultimate fighter” for the 13th season.
It is worth noting that winning TUF has become such an unimportant accomplishment that there is no longer any pomp and circumstance about the awarding of the glass TUF plaque. It was unceremoniously handed to Ferguson by commentator Joe Rogan.
The decline of TUF has been a topic that has been covered ad nauseam by the MMA media and will not be further discussed here. Besides, there was a fight that had far more importance than the fight between Ferguson and Nijem.
What was that fight? Clay Guida vs. Anthony Pettis.
The fight between Guida and Pettis was important for two reasons.
First, it determined who would be a future contender at lightweight and who was more likely to get a title shot next.
Second, it showed the superiority of the fighters in the UFC over their WEC counterparts.
Both of these aspects of the fight’s consequences are important in their own way.
It is important that Clay Guida become a future contender because he is more well known than Anthony Pettis—despite Pettis’ landing of the “showtime kick” against Ben Henderson—and is a more charismatic figure.
Simply put, Guida has had more time with the UFC’s vaunted hype machine and is therefore more well known. This will generate more pay-per-view buys in any title or No. 1 contender bout, certainly more than Pettis would have.
The second reason for Guida’s victory being the most positive part of the event is, admittedly, an issue of ego for the UFC. Had Pettis beaten Guida, it would have been proven that a fighter outside of the UFC was better than one inside the UFC (even though both fighters were under the Zuffa umbrella).
This would have damaged the UFC product and many UFC critics and keyboard warriors would use this to their advantage.
However, this wasn’t the case. Instead, the former WEC lightweight champion couldn’t beat a man who many considered at one time to be a permanent gatekeeper in Clay Guida.
What will wee see Guida do next? Fight the winner of Jim Miller vs. Ben Henderson? Maybe fight for the lightweight crown?
Either way, Guida doing either of these things will generate more attention and dollars than Pettis would have. This was the single most important thing to come from an otherwise severely underwhelming event.
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