TUF 13 Card Set; Ramsey Nijem Meets Tony Ferguson for Title

Filed under: UFC, NewsLAS VEGAS – Following Wednesday’s final regular-season episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC has filled its fight card for Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale.

In the championship bout to crown the next “Ultimate Fighter,” finalists R…

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LAS VEGAS – Following Wednesday’s final regular-season episode of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC has filled its fight card for Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale.

In the championship bout to crown the next “Ultimate Fighter,” finalists Ramsey Nijem and Tony Ferguson will meet for the title and a guaranteed UFC contract. The two welterweights won their semifinal fights in an episode that aired Wednesday night on Spike TV. Additionally, the UFC has made official for the televised main card a bout pitting losing semifinalists Chris Cope and Chuck O’Neil against each other.

And four other TUF 13 cast members will see action against each other on the preliminary card on Saturday: Shamar Bailey vs. Ryan McGillivray and Justin Edwards vs. Clay Harvison. The UFC and Spike made those fights official Thursday morning.

Bailey, a Strikeforce veteran, was one of this season’s favorites and was coach Junior dos Santos’ top pick. He advanced to the quarterfinals, but was upset there by Cope. The Indianapolis firefighter has trained alongside UFC vets Chris Lytle and Matt Mitrione, both also veterans of “The Ultimate Fighter.” His opponent, McGillivray, was dos Santos’ second pick. He, too, lost his quarterfinal fight. The five-year Canadian veteran started his career with Maximum Fighting Championships in Canada. Nine of the 11 wins in his pro career have come by submission.

Edwards, who trains in Ohio with Jorge Gurgel, lost his first fight in the house to Ferguson, who went on to reach Saturday’s finals. In his pro career, Edwards is 6-0 – with six first-round stoppages. The last five have come by submission with four by guillotine. Four of his wins have come in less than one minute. Edwards’ second pro fight was for Bellator, and he also has a win over Josh Rafferty, from TUF 1, on his resume. Harvison, who fought for Brock Lesnar‘s team, won his first fight this season before losing to Nijem in the quarterfinals. The 6-1 pro has fought all seven of his bouts in Georgia, and all six of his wins have come in the first round.

Seven of the eight quarterfinalists from TUF 13 are on Saturday’s card. Only Zach Davis is absent, replaced by Edwards. Davis lost a quarterfinal fight to O’Neil, but suffered torn retinas in both eyes and was told by doctors on the show that he should no longer fight.

Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale takes place at The Pearl at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The main card, which will air live on Spike, features a highly anticipated lightweight contenders fight between Clay Guida and Anthony Pettis, the last WEC lightweight champion. And Ed Herman and Tim Credeur meet in a middleweight bout, the return to action for both after nearly two years off because of injuries.

 

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Ramsey Nijem on Being The Ultimate Fighter’s ‘Kid to Beat’

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…

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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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Munoz vs. Maia Among Bouts Announced for UFC 131

Filed under: UFC, News The card for UFC 131 continues to take shape, with the promotion confirming three new fights early Saturday.

UFC.com reported verbal agreements are in place for a middleweight bout between Mark Munoz and former top contender De…

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The card for UFC 131 continues to take shape, with the promotion confirming three new fights early Saturday.

UFC.com reported verbal agreements are in place for a middleweight bout between Mark Munoz and former top contender Demian Maia; a light heavyweight fight between Anthony Perosh and Krzysztof Soszynski; and a middleweight bout between Jesse Bongfeldt and Court McGee.

Though the UFC has not yet officially announced the event, UFC 131 is expected to take place June 11 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

George Roop Gets New UFC Deal

Filed under: UFC, NewsDespite a TKO loss in his UFC debut last month, featherweight George Roop has signed a new five-fight deal with the promotion.

Sources close to Roop’s camp told MMA Fighting the news and confirmed the Tucson, Ariz.-based fighter…

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George RoopDespite a TKO loss in his UFC debut last month, featherweight George Roop has signed a new five-fight deal with the promotion.

Sources close to Roop’s camp told MMA Fighting the news and confirmed the Tucson, Ariz.-based fighter had also signed the deal for his next fight against Josh Grispi at the Season 13 finale of “The Ultimate Fighter” in June.

Josh Grispi, George Roop Booked for TUF 13 Finale

Filed under: UFC, NewsA featherweight fight between former top contender Josh Grispi and George Roop has been slotted for The UFC’s Season 13 finale of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Sources close to the bout confirmed the booking with MMA Fighting on Monda…

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A featherweight fight between former top contender Josh Grispi and George RoopJosh Grispi will fight in the TUF 13 finale. has been slotted for The UFC’s Season 13 finale of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Sources close to the bout confirmed the booking with MMA Fighting on Monday. MMA Mania first reported the matchup on Sunday.

Grispi (14-2, 0-1 UFC) had been in line for a featherweight title shot against champion Jose Aldo at UFC 125 last month. But when Aldo had to pull out with an injury, Grispi instead took a fight with Dustin Poirier to stay busy.