MMA fighter tries to honor late dad

If not for his late father, Efrain Escudero wouldn't have competed in Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter."

He also wouldn't be fighting Phillipe Nover tonight at the Palms for a six-figure UFC contract in the reality show's finale.

As Escudero awaited word to discover if he had earned a spot on the show, which finished taping in Las Vegas in June, his father, Oscar Escudero, lay dying of cancer.

Efrain didn't want to leave his family's side, but his father, a former professional boxer in Mexico, told him to follow his dream.

"He made me leave to come to the show," Escudero, a college student and former high school state wrestling champion in Arizona, said Friday after a weigh-in at the Palms. "He told me if anything happened (to him), to just jump on that plane and come to Las Vegas and give it 110 percent.

"That's why I stayed quiet (on the show) and let these guys punk me, because I had one goal in mind -- to make it to the finals -- and now that I'm here, there's nothing stopping me."

Escudero's father died two weeks before taping began in Las Vegas.

A big underdog to Nover, Escudero hopes to honor his father today.

"I was an underdog going into the house. I was never expected to make it this far. That gives me drive. I like to prove people wrong," said Escudero, who takes an 11-0 record into tonight's TUF lightweight final.

After beating troubled TUF contestant Junie Browning in the semifinals, Escudero likes his chances against Nover, who has been compared to UFC world champions Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre.

"Everybody might say he's the next Anderson Silva. He might be 10 years from now, but (today) he's not the next Anderson Silva; he's my next victim," Escudero said. "He said he's going to knock me out, but that won't happen. I'm here to win."

Nover, a registered nurse who takes a 6-0-1 mark into today's match, was dominant on the show and opened as a 5-1 favorite over Escudero.

But he appeared exhausted after Friday's weigh-in and declined an interview request.

"I did 100 interviews, man," Nover said. "I've been cutting weight. I've really had enough, man. I'm sorry. I'm just tired of interviews. I need to get in a zone."

In today's co-main event, Reno native Ryan "Darth" Bader (8-0-0) will take on Vinicius Magalhaes (3-2-1) in the light heavyweight final.

Bader wrestled and played football at McQueen High School and was an All-America wrestler at Arizona State.

Other bouts on the card, which will be broadcast from 9 p.m. to midnight today on Spike (Cable 29), include Kevin Burns-Anthony Johnson, Jason MacDonald-Wilson Gouveia, Browning-Dave Kaplan, Krzysztof Soszynski-Shane Primm, Eliot Marshall-Jules Bruchez, Kyle Klingsbury-Tom Lawlor, Shane Nelson-George Roop and Rolando Delgado-John Polakowski.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.