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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Welterweight Tony Ferguson became the 19th fighter to earn the title of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Saturday night, knocking out Ramsey Nijem at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale event in Las Vegas.
The knockout was Ferguson's fourth straight during the season 13 welterweight tournament.
As the third pick for Brock Lesnar's team during the season, Ferguson took out all of his opponents while on the show. He knocked out Justin Edwards with an upkick in his opening round bout, then defeated Ryan McGillivray and Chuck O'Neil to make his way to the finals against Nijem.
During their finals bout, Ferguson avoided a number of rushed flurries from Nijem, and took him down on a couple of occasions. As the first round was reaching its final minute, Ferguson backed up Nijem and landed a left hook on the button that dropped him to the canvas. Ferguson followed up with a couple more strikes to take the win, the title of "Ultimate Fighter" and the six-figure-contract.
Penick's Analysis: Ferguson was really the only fighter this season that looked like he might possibly be a legitimate UFC-level competitor. His striking was at a different level from Nijem in this fight, and with working with Lesnar's Death Clutch coaches after the season was done he also brought his wrestling game up as well. He's going to have a tough task ahead of him in a very tough 170 lb. division, but was pretty clearly the best fighter from this season and picked up a very deserved win on Saturday.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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