If 2010 was the year of Anthony Pettis, 2011 is certainly doing all it can to be the opposite.
It all started with the end of 2010 where Pettis won the WEC lightweight championship over Ben Henderson and was told he would be the No. 1 contender for the UFC belt.
Well, on the very first day of 2011, Pettis watched Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar fight to a draw and his title shot was pushed back.
Then, even though Dana White said Pettis would still be next in line for a title shot after Edgar-Maynard III, both fighters got injured for a planned title fight and Pettis was then told he would have to win twice in the UFC to get the title shot.
Then, Saturday happened.
Pettis made his UFC debut against Clay Guida and Guida was able to use his wrestling to keep Pettis on his back for most of the fight, giving Guida the unanimous decision victory.
Pettis showed some solid strikes and an active guard, but he couldn’t lock in a submission or hit a big strike to end the fight.
The loss certainly set Pettis back and he will now need a strong run to ever earn a title shot. Guida will now move into the top 5 discussion for UFC contenders.
The other featured bout of the night was the championship of The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 where Tony Ferguson defeated Ramsey Nijem by knockout in the first round.
Ferguson showed strong wrestling and absorbed a few flurries from Nijem before landing a big left hand that put out the lights of Nijem.
Here are the full results for tonight’s action.
Ultimate Fighter Season 13 Finale Results (Courtesy of MMAJunkie.com)
Tony Ferguson def. Ramsey Nijem via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:54
Clay Guida def. Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ed Herman def. Tim Credeur via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:48
Kyle Kingsbury def. Fabio Maldonado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Chris Cope def. Chuck O’Neil via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jeremy Stephens def. Danny Downes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
George Roop def. Josh Grispi TKO (body punch) – Round 3, 3:14
Shamar Bailey def. Ryan McGillivray via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Clay Harvison def. Justin Edwards via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Scott Jorgensen def. Ken Stone via KO (punches) – Round 1, 4:01
Reuben Duran def. Francisco Rivera via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:57
