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Ramsey Nijem stepped into the cage and won his fight against Charlie Rader on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, using his solid wrestling base to control Rader, take him down and finish him with a rear-naked choke.

But this week’s episode of the UFC’s reality show focused almost as much on Nijem’s personality outside the cage, where his habits — including painting his toenails and watching Glee — make him something very different from the stereotypical cage fighter.

In his weekly interview with MMAFighting.com, Nijem talked about his victory over Rader, shed a little more light on his personality outside the cage, and shared his thoughts on advancing to the next round of this season’s Ultimate Fighter tournament.

Michael David Smith: How did you feel about the matchup when Junior told you he was picking you to fight Charlie Rader?
Ramsey Nijem: I was really confident. Junior was really confident and everyone on my team was. I was excited to go out and put on a show. I really thought I could finish the fight and I was happy be the first one on this season to finish a fight.

You were pressing him against the cage in the early going and then looking for a takedown. Was that your game plan?
Yeah, [assistant coach Lew Polley] really wanted us to wrestle. It was kind of boring at the beginning to put him on the fence and keep him there. I’m usually a more fun fighter to watch than that. But as soon as we hit the ground my plan was to get his back and choke him out, like what happened. I wasn’t worried about him because I knew I could take him down.

Once you took Charlie’s back on the ground you got the rear-naked choke in quickly. Is that a signature move of yours?
I think it would be any wrestler’s signature move. it’s not a hard move to pull off, especially since I’m good at back control. I’m good at grinding guys and eventually the choke will come — it was easy.

You didn’t seem to have much trouble with Charlie, but you looked like you were breathing hard afterward. Was cardio an issue, or was bronchitis still affecting you?
I was still a little sick. I was congested and not really feeling good, so I think that’s what it was. I also think sometimes people don’t realize how exhausting it is to jostle for position against the fence like that — it might look boring but it’s really tiring to wrestle for control on the cage.

Both Dana White and Brock Lesnar said they were disappointed in Charlie and thought he quit. Did you feel that way?
Once I had the choke in he quit and tapped out right away. I don’t know what else he could have done, but I guess Dana would have liked him to fight a little more. But it was just a matter of time before I won the fight.

After the fight Lesnar said he saw the look in your eyes like you knew you were going to win, and he looked in Charlie’s eyes and didn’t see that confidence. Did you notice that?
Yeah, Charlie did look a little flat and tired, like he didn’t want to be there. He was talking beforehand about how he really wanted the fight but sometimes people say that when they don’t really want the fight.

We also learned more about you in the house. Guys were making fun of you for painting your toenails and watching Glee. What was that about?
I’m a quirky, weird dude. I’ve accepted that. I started painting my toenails as a tribute to John Hackleman, one of my coaches, because he does that. And I love the show Glee. It’s an entertaining show. A lot of guys in our profession feel that they need to be hard asses all the time, but I like singing and dancing and having fun and being happy. That’s the kind of show I like.

There was actually a segment on The Daily Show just last week in which Jon Stewart mentioned that Chuck Liddell paints his toenails. You’re in good company.
That’s Hackleman — he got Liddell to paint his toenails. At first I didn’t want to do it but Hackleman got me to do it too. But now that I’ve given it a try, I like getting pedicures. Me and my girlfriend will do it together, go out and get a pedicure and see a movie.

At the end of this episode, you had advanced to the next round of the tournament. Were you starting to think about who you might fight next?
Mostly I was just trying to get more comfortable, more acclimated to living in the house and more acclimated to the way we do things in the gym — being on the show is a lot different than being at home and having a normal training camp before a fight. I felt like I performed well, but I wasn’t really myself yet, and I was just looking forward to doing better, whoever I would fight in the next round.

(Editor’s note: Ramsey Nijem will join us each week during Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter to share his thoughts on that week’s episode. Follow Ramsey on Twitter @RamseyNijem.)

For the second consecutive Saturday night, Bellator has the mixed martial arts spotlight to itself, as Bellator 42 is the weekend’s only major MMA card. The big question facing Bellator is whether the match-ups they’ve put together will result in the kind of exciting card that will get fans buzzing, and create a little momentum for the promotion heading into the home stretch of its fourth season.

Bellator 42 took a hit when Paul Buentello suffered an injury and had to pull out of his fight with Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad, so whatever attention this card can garner will come from the semifinals of the light heavyweight tournament, and the promotional debut of Ronnie Mann.

Here are the basics on Saturday night’s card:

What: Bellator 42

Where: Lucky Star Casino, Concho, Oklahoma

When: Saturday, the MTV2 broadcast starts at 9 PM ET.

Predictions on the three main card fights below.

Richard Hale vs. D.J. Linderman
Although Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament is devoid of household names, Hale made a name for himself with an incredible inverted triangle choke submission in his first-round tournament fight. That was the highlight of the year so far for Bellator, and the promotion would love to see Hale emerge as a star. I don’t know if stardom is in Hale’s future, but I do think he’s crafty enough to beat Linderman, who advanced to the tournament semifinals by defeating Raphael Davis.
Pick: Hale

Tim Carpenter vs. Christian M’Pumbu
In the other light heavyweight semifinal, I like Carpenter to remain undefeated and beat M’Pumbu. Carpenter won a split decision over Daniel Gracie in the first round of the tournament, and I expect him to take another decision here.
Pick: Carpenter

Ronnie Mann vs. Josh Arocho
The British Mann, whose Bellator debut was delayed because of visa issues, is the reigning Shark Fights featherweight champion and was a good pickup for Bellator. Mann is 18-2-1 in his professional MMA career, has an excellent submission game and has a lot of interesting fights ahead of him in Bellator’s talented featherweight division. Arocho, however, has a 6-9 professional record and isn’t in Mann’s class. I expect this fight to end quickly, with Arocho tapping out.
Pick: Mann

Jerod Spoon vs. Luiz Alberto Nogueira
Spoon is on a five-fight winning streak, but the 26-year-old Nogueira has a 10-1 record and is one of Brazil’s best bantamweights, and I like him to beat Spoon by TKO.
Pick: Nogueira

An important stat proved to be the story of the first stop

Reigning Street League Champion Nyjah Huston won the first stop of Street League DC Pro Tour 2011 in Seattle at the KeyArena in dominating fashion. Huston’s score of 104.6 was more than enough to take home the $150,000, as well as an automatic spot in the SLS Championship in Newark, NJ on August 28th.

If winning the $150,000 wasn’t enough, Nyjah won $15,000 for best trick on the last run of the contest after he had the win all wrapped up, Huston pulled a backside 270 to..

Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren won a controversial unanimous decision over Marcos Galvao on Saturday night in Yuma, Arizona, with all three judges seeing the fight differently than nearly every member of the MMA media saw it.

Particularly surprising about the decision was that judge Chuck Wolfe scored the bout 30-27 for Warren: Not only did Wolfe score the first and third rounds for Warren, as did his fellow judges, but Wolfe also gave Warren the second round, even though almost everyone else watching thought that round was decidedly Galvao’s.

Although Wolfe declined to go into a detailed blow-by-blow account of the second round, he defended his scorecard and his decision, saying on Tuesday morning that he thought all three rounds in the fight were close, and that in close rounds, something relatively minor can be the difference in a 10-9 score.

“It could be one takedown different, it could be one punch different, it could be one kick different, it could be one attempted submission different,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe said he wasn’t aware that his scoring of the fight had caused a controversy in the MMA community, and he said that as a judge he can’t be concerned about how fans or the media view his decisions. He also said that his background as a professional kickboxer and his knowledge of MMA gives him insight that surpasses that of the average fan watching at home.

“I’ve judged and refereed since the beginning of the sport, I’ve been head official for over 600 different bouts,” Wolfe said. “If you want to question my credentials, I think I have way more than anyone out there to be qualified to judge. I know fans get disappointed, but I don’t think you’re going to have Joe Warren fans complain about how the decision went.”

Wolfe acknowledged that Galvao landed some significant strikes in the fight, but he said nothing Galvao did was enough to justify giving him any of the three rounds.

“Did he damage Warren in that fight? Yeah, he did, for a short period of time,” Wolfe said. “I remember the bout very clearly. When they are close rounds there’s one thing or maybe two things that might put someone ahead. … You can grade it 10-10 but you might as well not be there if you’re not going to score someone to win the round.”

Bellator promoter Bjorn Rebney said after the fight that he found Wolfe’s 30-27 score for Warren hard to understand, but the judges work independently of the promoters. Bellator 41 took place at a resort owned by the Cocopah Indian Tribe, and Wolfe and the other judges were hired by the Potawatomi Athletic Commission. Wolfe noted that the tribal commission follows the standard procedures employed by state athletic commissions, including telling the judges to watch the fights with their naked eyes. Judges are not provided with TV monitors, which means they’re seeing the fight from a different vantage point than the fans at home.

“There are a lot of things that a fan will cheer about outside the cage, but each judge has a different viewpoint and a different angle,” Wolfe said. “Unfortunately, judges don’t have a replay, don’t have a rewind, they just have to judge by what they see.”

Ultimately, Wolfe said, if Galvao isn’t happy with the decision he should look in the mirror, not at the judges.

“He had three rounds to take Warren out if he really wanted to beat him — he had three rounds to dominate Warren, as well as Warren had three rounds to dominate him,” Wolfe said. “It’s up to the fighter. … Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, especially when it’s a close fight.”

• Michael David Smith
• Lead Blogger

An important stat proved to be the story of the first stop

Reigning Street League Champion Nyjah Huston won the first stop of Street League DC Pro Tour 2011 in Seattle at the KeyArena in dominating fashion. Huston’s score of 104.6 was more than enough to take home the $150,000, as well as an automatic spot in the SLS Championship in Newark, NJ on August 28th.

If winning the $150,000 wasn’t enough, Nyjah won $15,000 for best trick on the last run of the contest after he had the win all wrapped up, Huston pulled a backside 270 to..