The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale Main Card Breakdown
This Saturday, The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale comes to you live from The Pearl inside Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card blends fighters from the season, past TUF cast members as well as up and coming fighters. Let’s take a look at the televised portion and see how each fight breaks down.
Opening up the broadcast will be former Semifinalists and teammates Chuck “Cold Steel” O’Neil (8-3) and Chris “C-Murder” Cope (4-1). Although they were both stopped in the second round of their semifinal bouts, they showed their heart and determination to keep fighting through the entirety of the show. In all of his fights on the show, Chuck showed he has a good ground game and decent striking. Cope is going to want to use his takedown defense to prevent Chuck from taking him down and use his striking to win the fight. This fight really could go either way and it will come down to who wants it more.
Next up is a Light Heavyweight battle between fanny pack wearing Kyle “Kingsbu” Kingsbury (10-2-1) and the heavy-handed Brazilian Fabio Maldonado (18-3). Unlike many of his countrymen, Maldonado’s background is in Boxing rather than BJJ and holds twelve victories by way of knockout. Kingsbury, who is also a predominant striker, earned his third consecutive UFC victory in just twenty-one seconds in his last fight. Kingsbury is also a decent wrestler and will definitely need to set up his shots in order to secure takedowns and avoid the heavy hands of Maldonado. We’ve yet to see any bottom ground game from Maldonado as he controlled James McSweeney from the top in his UFC debut.
The third fight of the broadcast is a contest between Ed “Short Fuse” Herman (19-7) and “Crazy” Tim Credeur (12-3) in the Middleweight Division. Herman is coming off a loss to Aaron Simpson in which he seriously injured his knee and had to have it surgically repaired. Credeur, too, is coming off a bizarre situation in which he had to pull out of a fight due to an abnormality found during a brain scan. With both men fully healed and clear to fight, these two grapplers will meet in the center of The Octagon and handle business. A loss for Herman would give him back-to-back losses for the third time since signing with the UFC in 2006. Credeur is looking to avoid gaining back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. Each man’s wins have come predominantly by way of submission, with KO/TKO being second most, so this fight could virtually end at any moment.
The Co-Main Event, and possibly most anticipated fight of the evening, is a potential Number One Contender’s fight between former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Clay “The Carpenter” Guida (28-11) and former WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis (13-1). The history of these two fighters speaks for itself in terms what to expect. Guida is very well-known for his high-energy offense and ability to take punishment and keep moving forward. Pettis has become known for his technical striking, his heart and ability to pull flashy and off-the-wall (or cage) techniques seemingly out of nowhere. Although it has not been talked about officially, the winner of this fight could be next in line to face the winner of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. In what could be the Fight of the Night, these two men are going to have to leave it all in the cage and dig deep to come out on top.
Tony Ferguson
Headlining the card is Team Dos Santos’ “Stripper” Ramsey Nijem (4-1) and Team Lesnar’s Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson (10-2). Both men made the most of their fights during the season as they finished each of the opponents in dominant fashion. This fight is going to be a classic case of Striker vs. Grappler with Tony being a boxer and Ramsey being a wrestler. Although they embarrassed themselves in the house, they showed that they deserved to be on the show when they stepped into The Octagon. If they each fight how they did in their Semifinal matches, this could be in the running for Fight of the Night. Not only will the victor be crowed the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Season 13, he will also be given a UFC contract.
Be sure to tune in this Saturday, June 4th to see who will be crowned the next Ultimate Fighter. The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos comes to a conclusion at 9PM ET/PT only on Spike TV. Unfortunately for West Coast viewers it will be shown via tape delay (unless you have satellite), so make sure to stay off of the internet if you want to avoid spoilers and fight results. Also, join us in the MMA Valor Chat Room to talk about each fight as it goes down!
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Aspiring chef turned MMA writer after financial issues prevented me from pursuing my first dream. Ever since I started watching MMA, I've read up about it and talk about it all the time and with the encouragement of family and friends I finally decided to actively pursue a career in writing about it.Subscribe
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