Nijem came out firing but Ferguson quickly took him down. They fought in half guard for a moment before Nijem triggered a beautiful scramble that ended with them back on their feet. Ferguson landed a jab or two. Nijem fired a leg kick. Nijem sling-shotted Ferguson with punches but was quickly taken down. Some exchanges went fairly evenly then Ferguson scored. Ferguson dropped Nijem with a brutal string of punches capped by a brutal right hand.
Nijem beat Charley Rader, Clay Harvison and Chris Cope to make the finals. Ferguson KO'd Justin Edwards, Ryan McGillvray, and Chuck O'Neil.
Ferguson represented Team Lesnar and coach Brock Lesnar. Nijem represented Junior dos Santos' team. The Lesnar vs dos Santos fight that was supposed to cap off the series at UFC 131 had to be cancelled when Brock Lesnar's diverticulitis flared up and forced a surgery to remove 12 inches of Lesnar's large intestine. Shane Carwin stepped up to face dos Santos. The winner is expected to welcome UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez back from rotator cuff surgery.
