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Usually, it's a bad thing if you are most famous for the stupid patterns you shave into your chest hair.



But even so, Brian Ebersole (49-14-1) has done pretty well for himself since he seemingly came out of nowhere and took the UFC's welterweight division by storm. Accepting a late-notice fight against Chris Lytle at UFC 127, Ebersole derailed the fan-favourite's title aspirations and came away with a dominant unanimous decision victory. His effort earned him Fight of the Night honours and an immediate place in the ever-stacked welterweight division.

Since then, he's rattled off two more wins inside the Octagon, destroying Dennis Hallman's banana hammock via TKO and taking another solid decision against Claude Patrick.



Ebersole brings an energetic fighting style featuring solid wrestling and unorthodox striking. When he's at his best, Ebersole brings a frenetic, fan-friendly pace that tends to overwhelm his opponents.



He also has one of the sport's great chins since he has never been knocked out or TKO'd in a staggering 65 career fights.



No matter who he's facing, Ebersole brings a fun, energetic match.



TJ Waldburger (15-6) is a young, fairly unknown fighter with an incredible ground game.



The numbers are pretty staggering. Out of his 15 career wins, 12 have come by way of submission.



If he's smart, Ebersole will want to stay away from this kid's ground game.



Waldburger scored a brilliant victory over Jake Hecht back in March, flipping his opponent on the mat and locking in a nasty armbar that made Hecht scream in pain.



Other than his ground game, Waldburger has some serious chinks in his armour. It's never good to have five of your six losses come by way of knockout. It's even worse when you're only 24 years of age and thinking about the longevity of your career in one of the world's most brutal sports.



Assuming that Ebersole wants to stay away from Waldburger's submission game, he must feel pretty confident that he score another knockout victory for his resume.



Still, if Waldburger can find some success on the ground, he could definitely pull off a submission win over his stronger, more experienced opponent.



In the end, I have to think that Ebersole has this one in the bag. He's a very strong, smart fighter with a ton of experience under his belt. He also had good wrestling and should be able to keep this one standing, where he can proceed to dominate Waldburger on the feet.



Overall, a compelling matchup that should deliver fireworks.



Prediction: Ebersole by Unanimous Decision