Issue 200

December 2023

Tony Ferguson already had a 10-2 pro record (and added three exhibition wins in The Ultimate Fighter house) when he made his first official appearance in the UFC, and he produced a performance to remember on his Octagon debut.

That came back in June 2011, when "El Cucuy" faced off against Ramsey Nijem in the main event for the honor of being the welterweight winner of Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Ferguson had already blasted his way through The Ultimate Fighter tournament, knocking out Justin Edwards with an upkick in his first bout, then stopping Ryan Gillivray with strikes in just 46 seconds in the quarter-finals.

That put him into the semi-finals, where a third-round TKO of Chuck O'Neil propelled him into the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale at the Pearl at The Palms, in Las Vegas.

When the action got underway, the 27-year-old quickly took Nijem to the mat and immediately connected with a big elbow – a technique that would quickly become his hallmark.

After a back-and-forth matchup that saw both men land clean with strikes, Ferguson eventually finished Nijem with a huge left hand to claim a spectacular knockout and get his UFC career off and running in highlight-reel fashion.