In defeating Ramsey Nijem with a first-round knockout Saturday night in Las Vegas at the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, Ferguson became the winner of the 13th season of the Spike reality show. That earned the 27-year-old welterweight the "six-figure contract" that UFC president Dana White loves to tout at these finales, and with it he gets the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of past TUF champions Griffin (Season 1), Evans (Season 2) and Serra (Season 4), all of whom went on to win a UFC championship. Forrest and Rashad wore the belt at light heavyweight and Matt at welter after a stunning 2007 upset of Georges St-Pierre.
Ferguson put on a stunning performance of his own. Coming into the finale with a 10-2 record built in various minor-league MMA outfits in his native California, he jump-started his new career in the big show with an electrifying finish. After displaying strong wrestling he skills he hadn't shown off during the TV show -- perhaps the result of training for this bout at the wrestling-heavy camp of his TUF coach, Brock Lesnar -- Ferguson returned to his bread and butter, connecting with a big left hook that floored and immobilized Nijem, followed by a couple of flush rights that stiffened the 24-year-old before referee Josh Rosenthal could jump at 3:54 of the round.
"Holy crap, man," Ferguson said as he was watching the end of the fight on a big screen in the arena. "It's kind of like, I don't remember even throwing that. I know he got me a couple of times, but I weathered the storm. I knew he was going to try to take me down, so just like B.J. Penn and [Jon] Fitch, you know, take him out of his own game."
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