The betting lines for The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale: Guida Vs. Pettis fight have been released and are showing Anthony Pettis as a (-165) favorite with Clay Guida as a (+135) dog. The famous “Showtime.
The betting lines for The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale: Guida Vs. Pettis fight have been released and are showing Anthony Pettis as a (-165) favorite with Clay Guida as a (+135) dog.
The famous “Showtime Kick” undoubtedly has impressed the line-makers over Guida’s latest 3 submissions win streak including his January 1st fight against Takanori Gomi, who Guida choked out in the second round. Pettis became nationally recognized with a Matrix-like kick that sealed him the WEC Championship belt, coming into the UFC. Pettis is currently on a 4 fight win streak, that Gray Maynard has dismissed by saying that save for Ben Henderson, Pettis has fought “scrubs.” This will be Pettis’ first fight in the UFC.
To bet on Clay Guida vs. Anthony Pettis, you may click on the icons to the online sports books in the Odds Side Bar to the right of our page or head here.
Jason “Mayhem” Miller chosen to coach TUF 14 with Michael Bisping and will no longer face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132. Matt Hamill thinks he’s a title-contender if he beats Quinton “Rampage” Jackson this weekend.
There’s a very good chance that Tony Ferguson will be the next winner of The Ultimate Fighter. So it’s a shame that his primary legacy from the show — at least for the people who actually watched it — is the moment from this week’s episode when he attacked his own teammate Charlie Rader then needled Rader about having his son taken from him. It was particularly shocking because Ferguson hadn’t previously shown any signs of being a mean-spirited drunk. Now, he has to expect a small chorus of boos when he enters the Octagon at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas next Saturday. In his guest blog for SBNation.com, Ferguson tried to explain the circumstances that transformed him from humble front-runner to TUF 13‘s biggest heel:
You first have to understand we started drinking not long after we had just got done fighting. We had also done the semi-final picks. I think part of me brought the fight home since my real fight with Ryan ended so fast. When you bring alcohol into the mix, it was just bad from there.
We all drank a lot. It started out with shots of Patron and moved to Jim Beam. Miller Lites were mixed in the entire time. We weren’t just drinking to relax. We were going hard core. Everyone was drinking, too, although maybe not as much as some of us.
There’s a very good chance that Tony Ferguson will be the next winner of The Ultimate Fighter. So it’s a shame that his primary legacy from the show — at least for the people who actually watched it — is the moment from this week’s episode when he attacked his own teammate Charlie Rader then needled Rader about having his son taken from him. It was particularly shocking because Ferguson hadn’t previously shown any signs of being a mean-spirited drunk. Now, he has to expect a small chorus of boos when he enters the Octagon at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas next Saturday. In his guest blog for SBNation.com, Ferguson tried to explain the circumstances that transformed him from humble front-runner to TUF 13‘s biggest heel:
You first have to understand we started drinking not long after we had just got done fighting. We had also done the semi-final picks. I think part of me brought the fight home since my real fight with Ryan ended so fast. When you bring alcohol into the mix, it was just bad from there.
We all drank a lot. It started out with shots of Patron and moved to Jim Beam. Miller Lites were mixed in the entire time. We weren’t just drinking to relax. We were going hard core. Everyone was drinking, too, although maybe not as much as some of us.
Things got out of hand fast. My adrenaline was still going. Things were beginning to escalate around me. They didn’t show this, but Shamar Bailey got pissed after Ramsey started dancing on him. That helped to set things in motion.
Throughout the show, I tried to keep calm and poised. I excused myself from a lot of conversations or just insane bulls–t. I was trying to stay focused.
That all went away fast. Charlie Rader poured water on my head, but at the time I thought it was beer. I couldn’t understand why he would do something like that, even as minor as it may seem now. I had a short fuse. I’m usually not like that. When I saw myself, it was honestly kind of creepy.
Unfortunately, everyone saw The Boogeyman came out. That’s a side of my personality I usually only see in the cage, but somehow Charlie brought it out in real life. Something just snapped and I thought “This guy is your enemy now”. Rather than try to bring people close to me, I was pushing everyone away.
Why did I bring up Charlie’s son? I have no idea, but I have a guess. My birth father wasn’t there for me growing up. Somehow Charlie’s situation mixed in with my adrenaline from fighting and the booze all worked together to bring up my own issues. I learned a lot about myself watching that on tape and how I felt about certain things in my life. I was under a lot of pressure, I was trying to bottle up frustration and it didn’t work. Well, it worked for a while, but ultimately did not.
I said some things I shouldn’t have said. I was in a weird place. I was having crazy dreams in that house. The entire experience took me out of my own independence and removed all of my release valves.
I really regret saying what I said to Charlie and we’ve talked about it since the incident. I’ve spoke to Clay Harvison and Chuck, too. We are in a better place now than we were that night.
Part of me feels like this is what the producers wanted. Every season there is someone who cracks. It sucks it had to be me, but I’ve never lived in a house full of fighters competing against each other. That alcohol is also there for a reason. Maybe subconsciously I needed that to happen so I could fight Charlie and Chuck who were my friends in the house at the time.
The really weird part was how drunk I got. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t remember much. I had a scar on my left arm, didn’t know where it came from. I started cleaning up and was basically none the wiser. But no one wanted to talk to me and who can blame them?
The last I will say is maybe all of this is related to me growing up angry. I only met my father two years ago. But I never wanted to bore anyone with my stories. My attitude was that no one cares about my problems, so I’ll just keep them to myself. That didn’t work, but that’s what I was working with when I was in the house at that time.
I’m sorry to all who I disappointed, but I want you all to know I haven’t had a drink at all during this camp. I’m training hard and staying on track. I’m living a healthy life, physically and emotionally. Thanks for all of the support over these past few weeks and watching me fight. If you want to contact me, get at me on Twitter or Facebook.
One positive thing you can say about the 13th season of TUF? It was mercifully brief. We’re already winding down to the end here, with just two more episodes to go until next Saturday’s finale show. Last night gave us two more quarterfinal fights, the selection of the semi-final matches (which go down next week), and a standout contestant making one of the most dramatic and unexpected heel-turns in TUF history.
Zach Davis feels confident in his quarterfinal rematch with Chuck O’Neil considering he’s already beaten him once. He knows it’s a dangerous matchup, but he wants to keep the fight standing this time to show the diversity of his skills. Because when you’ve got a good thing going, change it up I guess. Bad sign. Junior Dos Santos wants Zach to “do what he do well” — put Chuck on the mat and use his jiu-jitsu.
Chuck offers to give his teammate Charlie Rader his win bonus because Charlie recently had his son taken away from him and is being charged an arm and a leg for child support. The situation draws the sympathy of his teammates (“It’s not right…He deserves to have his kid, plain and simple”), but Charlie says he can’t accept the money. And of course, Chuck doesn’t even have it yet, so there’s that too.
“Chuck’s like a bad penny, he keeps showing up,” Zach says. And it’s already time for fight #1…
One positive thing you can say about the 13th season of TUF? It was mercifully brief. We’re already winding down to the end here, with just two more episodes to go until next Saturday’s finale show. Last night gave us two more quarterfinal fights, the selection of the semi-final matches (which go down next week), and a standout contestant making one of the most dramatic and unexpected heel-turns in TUF history.
Zach Davis feels confident in his quarterfinal rematch with Chuck O’Neil considering he’s already beaten him once. He knows it’s a dangerous matchup, but he wants to keep the fight standing this time to show the diversity of his skills. Because when you’ve got a good thing going, change it up I guess. Bad sign. Junior Dos Santos wants Zach to “do what he do well” — put Chuck on the mat and use his jiu-jitsu.
Chuck offers to give his teammate Charlie Rader his win bonus because Charlie recently had his son taken away from him and is being charged an arm and a leg for child support. The situation draws the sympathy of his teammates (“It’s not right…He deserves to have his kid, plain and simple”), but Charlie says he can’t accept the money. And of course, Chuck doesn’t even have it yet, so there’s that too.
“Chuck’s like a bad penny, he keeps showing up,” Zach says. And it’s already time for fight #1…
Zach Davis vs. Chuck O’Neil
Round 1: Zach lands the first jabs. He pushes forward, and Chuck starts to work his counter-punches. Chuck takes the middle of the cage, and lands a hard leg kick. Chuck fires some punches; Zach has already seen enough and shoots. He puts Chuck’s back against the fence and throws some knees to the body. Chuck returns fire. Zach drops a level trying to take Chuck down, but Chuck defends it. The ref breaks ‘em when the action slows. Push-kick from Zach, another sharp leg kick from Chuck. Zach attacks with punches and a teep. Leg kick Chuck, and he rocks Zach with a right hand. Chuck swarms and Zach responds by shooting and clinching with Chuck against the fence. Chuck pounds down on Zach’s head, then gets some space and starts throwing. Zach re-establishes the clinch. Chuck escapes and they trade punches. Chuck gets the better of the exchanges and Zach is on the run. Chuck finishes the round teeing off on Zach’s face, clinching the 10-9.
Round 2: Zach jabs, throws a leg kick, and gets tripped down by a leg kick from Chuck. Chuck pounces on, but Zach quickly establishes guard. Chuck lets him up. Zach weakly throws a leg kick, then a teep. He looks exhausted, but he’s still going through the motions. Zach shoots, Chuck sprawls. Chuck tries to disengage but Zach stays on him, grabbing onto his waist. He drags Chuck down and pulls guard, but Chuck escapes to his feet. Ferocious punch combo from Chuck. Zach shoots, Chuck sprawls. Chuck gets up with Zach glued to him. Zach puts Chuck’s back against the fence. Knee from Chuck. The ref breaks ‘em. A hard 1-2 from Chuck, and another punch that stings Zach. And a leg kick. And a hook. Another leg kick. Zach floats out more weak kicks and gets tagged hard. Chuck lands again with the 1-2. Zach shoots, Chuck sprawls and escapes. Leg kick from Zach and the round ends.
The judges score it 20-18 x 3 for Chuck O’Neil, who moves onto the semi-finals. No more Trash-Bag Charlie, eh? Dana White’s heart is clearly with the kid from Massachusetts; he’s shown jumping out of his chair to cheer the action. “Chuck is definitely the toughest guy here,” he says. Meanwhile, Zach is furious, and punches a hole in the already-wrecked gym door. “I can fucking beat him!” he laments. Later, when Zach has calmed down, he says, “I have so much fun out there. Even on a bad day like today, I enjoyed it.”
And it turns out to be a really bad day for him. His ragged, puffed-up eyes don’t just look bad — they’re pretty much ruined. After the fight, the doctor told him he tore both his retinas, and shouldn’t fight again because they can tear more easily in the future. Zach says he went through the bad times, fighting in parking lots for $100 — and now when things are starting to go good, it all falls apart. Poor bastard.
Ryan McGillivray is fighting Tony Ferguson next, and he’s using his daughter as motivation: “I don’t know how to make a good living to give her the things she deserves. But I found something I might be good at…I missed her birithday. And I might have to miss other things. And I hope she understands.”
Ryan McGillivray vs. Tony Ferguson
Round 1: They spend the opening moments trading jabs. Tony tries a body kick. Ryan comes in and gets countered hard with an uppercut/right-hand combo. For a second it looks like he’ll be able to stay on his feet, but then…no, he wilts to the mat. The ref jumps in immediately as Tony starts to throw down the finishing touches. At first it looks like an early stoppage, but Ryan is clearly in la-la land. Welcome to the semis, Tony.
After a rough early going for Team Lesnar, the Brock ‘N’ Roll Express (as I’ve taken to calling them, starting just now) makes up 75% of the semi-finals, with Chris Cope, Chuck, and Tony still in the bracket. The only Team Dos Santos member left in contention is Ramsey Nijem. The coaches feel that Ramsey and Tony are the best fighters out of the four, but Dana has a crush on Chuck, and Chris is a dark horse that keeps proving people wrong.
Dana announces the semi-final matchups. The first fight will be Ramsey Nijem vs. Chris Cope. As usual, Cope poses for the initial face-off with a wide, clownish grin on his face. “I can’t take you seriously, Ramsey,” he says. But Ramsey is dead-serious, maybe for the first time on the show. “You better,” he says.
The other semi-final pairing, of course, is Tony Ferguson vs. Chuck O’Neil. Chuck honestly looks a little spooked walking up to the faceoff. Tony says it sucks fighting a friend, but we’re gonna see some fireworks.
The night starts merrily enough — with Stripper Ramsey performing his one-man all-male revue on the pool table and getting alcohol sprayed on his dick, you know, normal dude stuff — but boy does it turn ugly fast. A friendly tussle between Tony and Charlie Rader flips a psycho-switch on Tony, who to this point has only been a well-dressed nice-guy. Tony tackles Charlie over a glass coffee table and then puts his forearm across Charlie’s face. The mood in the room turns dire. Charlie gets up and checks to see if they’re still playing around. “Are you being serious? Are you good?” he says. But Tony is not good; he’s seeing red for some reason. After some verbal tussling, Tony brings up Charlie’s son. (“Where’s your kid at?”) Wow, what an asshole. Tony then throws a stool, putting an exclamation point on his own dickishness.
Charlie is beside himself with anger and wants to throw down right then and there. A little later, Charlie’s in his bedroom fuming, and Tony comes in. The guys try to get Tony to apologize for the low-blow about Charlie’s son. Tony’s like “what?” The guys tell him how he brought up Charlie’s kid, and Tony’s like, “oh yeah…WHERE’S YOUR KID?” Unbelievable. Charlie tries to go after Tony but they’re both restrained by their teammates.
Now, Chuck is just fine with meeting Tony in the semis. “I have more than enough ammo…I’m beating him. I’m gonna take his dreams away, I guaran-damn-tee it. Or I will die trying.” Well alright. Now things are starting to get interesting…
(“New episode of ‘Coal’? YEAH, BABY! GET SOME!” / Gif via IronForgesIron.com)
The quarterfinal round kicked off in last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bellyache vs. Team Stare Directly at the Camera While Being Interviewed by Megan Olivi, and Shamar Bailey’s not feeling a personal best. The gray-team standout tweaked his back, and direct pressure ain’t comfortable. As he discusses it with Justin Edwards, Chris Cope lurks by, as if on cue, and screams “Woo!”
“I’mma choke that voice box out,” Shamar says.
But before he gets a chance to do that, Ramsey Nijem and Clay Harvison will square off. Dos Santos feels Ramsey is the best wrestler on his team. Ramsey says that his Palestinian heritage helps him be the fighter he is. He’s seen the road-stops, the walls, the guns; he feels grateful to be fighting in a controlled environment, and not for his life.
Dana White brings UFC middleweight contender and war hero Brian Stann to the gym. Stann tells the guys about being a Marine Corps captain, the lifestyle of discipline, how success breeds success…wait a minute. Is this just an ad for the Marines? This is like those segments on The Biggest Loser where they teach the contestants how to cook with Jennie-O-brand turkey. Come on, you know what I’m talking about. I can’t stand that crap. Anyway, Brock tells some of these long-haired punks to fill out an application.
(“New episode of ‘Coal’? YEAH, BABY! GET SOME!” / Gif via IronForgesIron.com)
The quarterfinal round kicked off in last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bellyache vs. Team Stare Directly at the Camera While Being Interviewed by Megan Olivi, and Shamar Bailey’s not feeling a personal best. The gray-team standout tweaked his back, and direct pressure ain’t comfortable. As he discusses it with Justin Edwards, Chris Cope lurks by, as if on cue, and screams “Woo!”
“I’mma choke that voice box out,” Shamar says.
But before he gets a chance to do that, Ramsey Nijem and Clay Harvison will square off. Dos Santos feels Ramsey is the best wrestler on his team. Ramsey says that his Palestinian heritage helps him be the fighter he is. He’s seen the road-stops, the walls, the guns; he feels grateful to be fighting in a controlled environment, and not for his life.
Dana White brings UFC middleweight contender and war hero Brian Stann to the gym. Stann tells the guys about being a Marine Corps captain, the lifestyle of discipline, how success breeds success…wait a minute. Is this just an ad for the Marines? This is like those segments on The Biggest Loser where they teach the contestants how to cook with Jennie-O-brand turkey. Come on, you know what I’m talking about. I can’t stand that crap. Anyway, Brock tells some of these long-haired punks to fill out an application.
Clay still can’t bend his dislocated finger completely, but he’s gonna throw down anyway. Brock works with Clay and Chris on their wrestling — which they’ll need, since their opponents both specialize in it — and shows them the whizzer defense that Shane Carwin pulled on him in the beginning of their fight last year.
Ramsey shows up to weigh-ins in classic Palestinian style, with some jacked-ass hip briefs. He gets in Clay’s face in a very loving way, then bends over to complete the Nick Ring impression. Unfortunately, Ramsey feels sick before the fight, and he’s not one of those dudes who normally get sick before fights. Could be an issue, but there’s no time to worry about it…
Round 1: Brock screams for the whizzer before Ramsey even tries his first takedown. Ramsey fires an overhand right. Clay launches forward with a 1-2. Ramsey grabs him coming in and takes him down easily. Clay tries to get up and Ramsey takes his back. Clay nearly rolls out, but Ramsey stays in control. Ramsey flattens Clay out on the mat and sinks the rear-naked choke. Clay taps. God damn, that didn’t last long. Ramsey Nijem is TUF 13′s first semi-finalist.
DW: “That was the fastest and most decisive finish of the season…Junior might be right, this kid might be the kid to beat.”
Dos Santos: “That’s how you fight when you get sick? WOOOOW!”
Clay is pissed at himself, obviously. “Stripper Ramsey, what the fuck. That’s how you screw the pooch, ladies and gentlemen.”
Brock: “Clay just got outclassed in wrestling. Giving up your back like that to a wrestler is just self-destruction.”
Moving on. Shamar wants to make Chris Cope pay for the constant screaming thing. His plan is to meet Chris in the middle of the Octagon, make him move backwards, beat him up on the feet, and take him down when he feels like it.
Coach Brock realizes that Cope is a big underdog here: “The first 30 seconds of this, you’re just gonna have to weather the storm,” he says. He calls the fight a classic matchup of “wrestler vs…Chris.” Once again, they drill the whizzer, hoping it might actually work this time. Brock points at the ad in the middle of the cage. “Do whatever you need to do to own Burger King. This is your house right here, Burger King.”
In the face-off, Chris smiles and nods while Shamar mean-mugs and shakes his head. Could they be any different?
The night before the fight, Cope tries to get some tips from Nordin Asrih, who previously lost to Shamar by decision. “His game plan is easy,” Nordin says. “To put you down and hold you down. He doesn’t want to fuck with you.” Nordin gives Chris some angry notes on his guillotine setup, which seems to leave him open for punches. “There’s no time bro,” Nordin says. “I’m fighting tomorrow, don’t be an asshole,” Chris says.
Shamar is mad intense before the fight: “He made a mistake, he woke up a beast.”
Says Chris: “Shamar, the ‘woo’ that you get so angry about? Win, lose, or draw, I’m still gonna do it.” And then he does.
Round 1: Shamar starts out as the aggressor, pushing forward, chasing Chris around the cage. He lands a left straight. Chris throws some punches but doesn’t land anything worthwhile. Shamar shoots from too far away, Chris defends it and slugs him in the head while pressed against the fence. Chris turns him around. Shamar puts Chris’s back against fence. Chris escapes. Shamar comes in with punches and a clinch. They trade knees to the legs. Cope escapes again. Left straight and a clinch from Shamar. Knee to the ribs from Chris, and some dirty boxing exchanged between the fighters. Another knee from Chris, and he escapes. Shamar with a left overhand/right low grab/clinch, which will become his trademark for the rest of the fight. Chris grabs a headlock and uses it to escape. Shamar does his hi/lo/clinch trick again, and works hard to drag Cope to the mat but he can’t pull it off.
“Let your fuckin’ hands go kid,” Dana shouts at Chris. Brock tells his fighter the same thing.
Round 2: Shamar stalks forward and lands a jab. Chris brushes him back with counter-punches. He’s throwing more now. Shamar fires to the body. Chris jacks a short hook. He lands the jab while Shamar is coming in. Shamar with that hi/lo/clinch. Chris gets out after some dirty boxing. He lands a couple on the feet, and seems to be gaining some momentum. No big shots, but he’s making Shamar respect him. Shamar shoots, settles for the clinch, and lands an uppercut on the exit. Shamar comes in to engage and they clash heads. Chris jabs. Shamar lands a clean punch combo. Both guys throwing now. Shamar shoots, Chris puts him against the fence. Shamar reverses the position. Chris escapes. They slug it out. Shamar shoots and puts Chris’s back against the fence. Chris fires some punches to his head. Chris turns Shamar around and escapes as the horn sounds.
The way I saw it, Shamar won the first round with his takedown attempts and pressure, and Chris out-boxed Shamar by a slight margin in the second. Chris’s takedown defense was really the story of the fight, but he was a little hesitant to throw in the first frame. This one should go to sudden victory. But it doesn’t. All three judges score it 20-18 for…Chris Cope? Damn. The fact that all three judges scored the first round for Chris is kind of absurd. Junior shouts “what?” Brock says that Chris wowed him and — you guessed it — made chicken salad out of chicken shit.
Shamar talks to Dana afterwards, and says he wanted to show that he could do more than wrestle. DW is like, “well, it looks like you tried to take him down.” (Burn!) Shamar tells Dana he sprained his back. And now Shamar is going to be haunted by that Woo! for the rest of his life.
On the next episode: Tony Ferguson goes apeshit into a glass coffee table, two more quarterfinal fights, and the semi-final announcements. We’re moving along nicely, here.
Filed under: UFCAfter Ramsey Nijem needed less than a minute to finish Clay Harvison in their fight on Episode 8 of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC President Dana White offered some high praise.
White called Nijem’s rear-naked choke, “the fastest and most d…
After Ramsey Nijem needed less than a minute to finish Clay Harvison in their fight on Episode 8 of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC President Dana White offered some high praise.
White called Nijem’s rear-naked choke, “the fastest and most decisive finish of the season so far,” and said of Nijem, “This kid is the kid to beat.”
In our weekly interview, Nijem told MMAFighting.com that he felt just as confident in himself as White did in him. Nijem also talked about the other fight on this week’s episode, and about his coach, Junior dos Santos, getting a new opponent for UFC 131, with Shane Carwin filling in for the sick Brock Lesnar.
The full interview is below.
Michael David Smith: You took Harvison down, took his back and got him to tap to the rear-naked choke in less than a minute. You must have been pretty pleased.
Ramsey Nijem: It was a good win, and it felt good to get in there. I wasn’t feeling good before the fight, but I was feeling very good after I won.
We saw that you were sick beforehand. What happened?
I don’t know, I just started throwing up. It might have been nerves or something but I’ve never hard nerves like that. I have a pretty bad stomach so I’ll get sick to my stomach pretty easily. Something didn’t sit right.
It seemed like Junior was giving you a lot of individual instruction. What did you learn from him?
He just wanted me to do what I’m good at, which is wrestling, and so when he was teaching me stand-up he was teaching me about closing the distance to allow me to take advantage of my wrestling. A big thing Junior showed me is getting angles so I could go for the takedown and not get knocked out.
After you won, Dana White said you were “the kid to beat.” Is that how you felt as well?
Oh, I felt like that going in. I had high expectations for myself going into the house and felt I was good enough to win the show, so every fight I expected to win. I’m definitely glad my performance backed up what I thought.
The other fight was Chris Cope beating Shamar Bailey by unanimous decision. What did you think of that one?
I actually didn’t even see that fight because I was in the back, but I know Shamar felt like he deserved to win. He left it in the hands of the judges, though, so that’s what happens.
It’s now been announced that Brock is sick and he won’t be fighting Junior. Did you ever get any inkling on the show that Brock was sick?
No, I had no idea. That came as a total surprise to me. It was hard to see because we really wanted to see Junior fight him. It must have been recently that he got sick because he looked OK. I hope he gets better. I wanted to see the fight because I think it would be a great win for Junior, but seeing Junior against Shane Carwin will be a great fight, too. That’s going to be fun seeing two huge heavyweights throwing bombs. That fight might even be more fun for the fans.
(Editor’s note: Ramsey Nijem will join us each week during Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter to share his thoughts on that week’s episode. Follow Ramsey on Twitter @RamseyNijem.)
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