Tony Ferguson explains offensive TUF outburst

On Wednesday night's episode of "The Ultimate Fighter," Tony Ferguson crossed the line when in a drunken argument with castmate Charlie Rader. It started with Rader pouring water on Ferguson's head, and with the amount of alcohol and testosterone flying around, things went too far. Ferguson brought up Rader's custody problems with his son, saying, "Hit me, don't hit your son."

Ferguson discussed the incident in his post on the SB Nation MMA blog:

Why did I bring up Charlie's son? I have no idea, but I have a guess. My birth father wasn't there for me growing up. Somehow Charlie's situation mixed in with my adrenaline from fighting and the booze all worked together to bring up my own issues. I learned a lot about myself watching that on tape and how I felt about certain things in my life. I was under a lot of pressure, I was trying to bottle up frustration and it didn't work. Well, it worked for a while, but ultimately did not.

I said some things I shouldn't have said. I was in a weird place. I was having crazy dreams in that house. The entire experience took me out of my own independence and removed all of my release valves.

I really regret saying what I said to Charlie and we've talked about it since the incident. I've spoke to Clay Harvison and Chuck, too. We are in a better place now than we were that night.

In the post, Ferguson mentions that they started drinking immediately after the fights, and adrenaline was still pumping through his veins.

Every TUF castmate I've spoken to has mentioned how weird the experience is. They're in a house for six weeks with no television, books, visitors or privacy. They get to train, drink, and entertain each other. This is not to excuse Ferguson's behavior, but just to point out that this isn't a normal situation, and abnormal behavior comes out of it.

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Stann scores another spectacular finish by blasting Santiago at UFC 130

LAS VEGAS - Brian Stann dealt with an emotional spot beautifully in the opening fight of the UFC 130 pay-per-view. The Marine, fighting on Memorial Day weekend, took out an elite middleweight in Jorge Santiago, by showing off a versatile, powerful stand up attack. Stann floored Santiago with a right hook and landed five more shots on the ground before referee Herb Dean saved the Brazilian at 4:29 of the second round.

"It means so much to win today," Stann said, who received a Silver Star back in 2006 for his heroic efforts in Iraq. "There are people who aren't here anymore. They are the true heroes. I am here thanks to a lot of luck and I'm grateful to be fighting on the biggest stage on earth."

Stann's military is a main focus before every one of his fights. He's so humble that he actually apologized during the prefight press conference and again after the fight.

"The attention that's bestowed upon me is misdirected. It belongs to the active military personnel and those who lost their lives fighting for this country," said Stann.

Based on his success with Japan's Sengoku, Santiago rose into the middleweight top 10 of some MMA polls. But there was also a thought that he was a bit overrated. The sportsbook and betting public in Las Vegas agreed with that assessment. Stann was minus-140 favorite during the week and one-sided action pushed him to a -160 favorite. The way the fight played out, he probably should've been a 3-to-1 favorite.

Santiago had trouble getting into a rhythm on the feet and anytime he went near Stann in a clinch situation, he was overpowered.

On the feet, Stann (11-3, 5-1 UFC) was excellent with his leg kicks. He momentarily dropped Santiago on two occasion with those kicks, but the fight changing blows came with both fists. He landed a left hook with 1:45 left in the first and pounded away on top of Santiago for the rest of the round. In the second, Santiago still looked shaky on the feet and was slow. Stann caught him with a right hook on the side of his head and this time Santiago couldn't recover. Stann pounced and fired away from a standing position. The fifth punch he landed made Santiago go limp.

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Tibau posts ninth UFC win by running over ‘The Tractor’ at UFC 130

LAS VEGAS - Nicknamed "The Tractor," Rafaello Oliveira is a big, strong lightweight. He met his match tonight against the beast of the division and got run off the road. Tibau floored Oliveira with a big left, brutalized him on the ground and finished the fight at 3:28 mark of the second round with a rear-naked choke in bout No. 3 of UFC 130 at the MGM Garden Arena.

"I think I proved tonight that I'm getting close to my peak," Tibau said. "I showed everyone that I can strike, that I can finish guys with jiu-jitsu and that my game is coming together. I'm becoming a more complete fighter every day and I know that I'm heading toward the top of this division. I love the UFC and I want to fight as much as possible so that I can keep rising in this division."

In the opening round, Oliveira held his own. Tibau's size advantage made no difference. In fact, he looked a little slow. When Tibau was able to close space in the second and move the fight near the cage, Oliveira got trapped in a bad spot. He ate a huge left and hit the deck. Tibau jumped on top and moved to mount. Oliveira decided to flip to his back where Tibau got the hooks in and tried to flatten out the fellow Brazilian. Oliveira made a big mistake by trying to rise off the canvas with Tibau on his back. That seemed to sap his energy and allowed Tibau to slap on the choke.

"I think he has some great combos and I didn't see his left hand coming," Oliveira said. "I took this fight on short notice, but there are really no excuses. I need to work on controlling my mind in fights and fighting like I know I can fight. I will be back in the UFC and I will make the necessary changes to my game."

Tibau's won two straight. He's still in search of a huge win to move into the top 10 at lightweight. The 27-year-old Brazilian is 9-5 with the promotion. His only losses have come against Nick Diaz, Jim Miller, Joe Stevenson, Melvin Guillard and Tyson Griffin.

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UFC 130 weigh-in: Mir and Nelson both weigh 260, ‘Rampage’ on point

UFC 130 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

  • Matt Hamill (205) vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (205)
  • Frank Mir (260) vs. Roy Nelson (260)
  • Travis Browne (247) vs. Stefan Struve (255)
  • Thiago Alves (170) vs. Rick Story (170)
  • Jorge Santiago (185) vs. Brian Stann (186)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

  • Demetrious Johnson (135.5) vs. Miguel Torres (135.5)
  • Tim Boetsch (186) vs. Kendall Grove (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook.com)

  • Rafaello Oliveira (155) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)
  • Chris Cariaso (135) vs. Michael McDonald (136)
  • Renan Barao (135) vs. Cole Escovedo (135)

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What you need to know from this week on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

With just days to got before the finale, the semifinals are contested on "The Ultimate Fighter." Who will fight for the shiny, breakable glass plaque? Read on for spoilers and a recap.

Awkward moment of the week: The house is still reeling from Tony Ferguson's drunken attacks on Charlie Rader. Chuck O'Neil, who will fight Ferguson, says that Ferguson has burned every bridge in the house.

Apology of the week: Ferguson apologized to his team, and said he didn't remember what he said. His team didn't accept it, and they have chosen not to be in his corner when he fights.

But first, a fight that doesn't have alcohol-fueled drama. (Side note: semi-final fights are three rounds long.)

Semifinal one of the week: Ramsey Nijem (Team dos Santos) vs. Chris Cope (Team Lesnar)

Round one: Nijem starts the fight more aggressively, jabbing Cope into the fence. Cope tries to avoid the takedown, but ends up eating some of Nijem's punches. Cope still gets taken down, but then gets back to his feet. Nijem maintains control against the fence, and even when Cope breaks away, Nijem is able to land strikes.

Round two: Cope starts the round with a leg kick, but is quickly taken down by Nijem. Cope gets back to his feet, but sustains strikes from Nijem as he stands. Nijem never lets up, moving Cope against the fence, then flooding with a barrage of punches and knees until Cope finally falls, and referee Steve Mazzagatti steps into to stop the fight.

Mispronunciation of the week: "And going to the finals! Ramsey Nay-Jim!" Mazzagatti said as he raised Nijem's hand.

Semifinal two of the week: Chuck O'Neil (Team Lesnar) vs. Tony Ferguson (Team Lesnar)

Round one: O'Neil starts strong, landing jabs that appear to shake Ferguson up. Ferguson has good movement, and finally starts landing strikes two minutes into the bout. He then starts using leg kicks, but O'Neil returns the favor. With two minutes left, Ferguson lands a snapping strikes and get O'Neil to back up. Ferguson finishes the round strong, landing a flurry of strikes, even knocking O'Neil down for a second.

Round two: Ferguson starts this round more aggressively, throwing punches and moving O'Neil back into the cage. Ferguson keeps up his footwork and head movement, but O'Neil still manages a few strikes. Ferguson responds and appears to shake up O'Neil with a few jabs. They exchange leg kicks, and then a Ferguson jab causes O'Neil's nose to bleed.

Round three: Ferguson comes out with leg kicks and body shots. O'Neil begins to hobble from the leg kicks. O'Neil's corner begs for him to throw a jab when Ferguson comes in for a kick, but he isn't able to. A straight right knocks O'Neil to the ground, where Ferguson tries to follow him to the ground but isn't able to because of O'Neil's kicks. Back on their feet and with O'Neil's nose bleeding profusely, Ferguson knocks O'Neil to the ground with a hard body shot. The fight is stopped.

And that's your final: Tony Ferguson (Team Lesnar) vs. Ramsey Nijem (Team dos Santos). That will air as a part of "The Ultimate Fighter" finale which runs this Saturday on Spike. Despite an unbalanced semifinal, both teams are represented.

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Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz on the docket for UFC 137

UFC president Dana White tweeted the news Wednesday that MMA fans have been waiting to hear:

A fight between the UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre, and the Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz, is on for late October. This is the first fight between Strikeforce and UFC fighters since Zuffa, the parent company for the UFC, bought Strikeforce in March. Until now, the UFC had maintained that the two promotions would remain separate.

It is also the bout that makes the most sense for both fighters. Diaz and GSP have both cleaned out their divisions. Neither fighter has lost since 2007. Diaz has been asking for this fight for more than a year, pointing out in an interview with Cagewriter that GSP did not have many challenges left within the UFC:

GSP's fought everybody else. He's already fought Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck. He doesn't want to fight those guys again. He should want to fight me. I think he should stand up and say, whether this fight is going to happen or not, I'm not afraid to fight.

Diaz turned out to be correct, as GSP beat both Koscheck and Diaz's training partner, Jake Shields. Diaz has faced a similar dearth of challenges. He beat Paul Daley with a TKO in the first round in April, and Evangelista Santos with an armbar in January.

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