Mike Chiappetta • E-mail

On Saturday night, Efrain Escudero and Phillipe Nover will step into the cage, touch gloves, and get ready to do battle.

What comes next will look like a fight, but for Escudero, it will be so much more.

It will be the culmination of a promise from a son to a father; the chance to tell the world about the man who shaped a life; the opportunity to honor a hero.

Fighters are often asked what they think about in the instant after the cage door is locked behind them. At some point on Saturday, even if just for a second, Escudero's thoughts will be of his father.

Efrain Escudero would not be in the position to live out a dream if it was not for a dying wish by his dad, Oscar.

Back in March, Efrain had been waiting to hear if he had been chosen for The Ultimate Fighter. Just 22 years old, he'd already competed in 10 fights and was unbeaten. He was well-rounded, too; a college student majoring in criminal justice who had been a junior college wrestling All-American.

But while he was waiting for the call, his father's cancer was worsening. Efrain decided that even if the UFC invited him on to the show, he would stay with his family. They needed him more than he needed to fulfill his dream.

Then came a conversation with his dad.

"I wanted to stay and be with my family," he says. "The UFC is always going to be there, and it was a bad moment for my family. I got the invitation for the show, and my dad made me promise that if anything were to happen, I would go. He wanted me to go in and give it 110 percent with no regrets."

Oscar Escudero died just weeks later.

With a week to go until production started, Efrain was faced with saying good-bye to his dad and leaving his family to grieve without him, knowing full well the "reality show" experience wouldn't allow him any contact. With a heavy heart, he packed up his things and took off to Las Vegas to film the season. Quietly, he told himself that his performance would be a tribute to his dad. The loss of his father was not a topic explored on the show, yet it was a very real part of his experience.

Video   MMA Fight Weekly: Ultimate finale Dec. 11: Mike Chiappetta says expectations are high for Ultimate Fighter finalist Phillipe Nover, who discusses life in the TUF house and his big upcoming fight. NBC Sports

Escudero says it was his father's words that helped him shrug off the potential confrontations with Junie Browning, particularly the time Browning wildly jumped in the cage after Escudero defeated Shane Nelson.

"I didn't control myself because of me," he says. "I didn't want to ruin my shot of winning the whole thing. If I did that, I would've felt like I failed my dad."

Ironically, Escudero's dad was a pro boxer in Mexico, a country that loves the sweet science, but Efrain never had any thoughts of following in his footsteps. From a young age, it was wrestling that interested him.

As a senior at Cibola High School in Yuma, Ariz., Escudero captured the 5A state championship. But he was already bitten by the MMA bug. Less than a year later, he made his MMA debut with a first-round submission win. In 2007 alone, Escudero fought eight times and won all eight matches by submission.

Escudero is still a full-time student at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, and has juggled his training between schoolwork.

When he entered the TUF house and tried to divorce his mind of the sad reality back home, he chose to focus on the opportunity to train with comparable athletes and excellent coaches. He said his spirits were lifted by the camaraderie fostered by coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and his teammates.

"The first week was fine, the second was still good. By the third I started to count down the days, and by the fourth, I couldn't sleep," he says laughing. "But we all realized we were there to fight, and my team got along so well, we helped each other get by day to day."

From the outset, he was impressed by Nover ("he definitely stood out," he says), but reverted to the team mindset he'd always known as a wrestler. His focus was always on the Team Mir fighters and which could be next.

Of course, his fight with Browning was likely the most anticipated of the season, and Escudero rose to the moment, silencing the brash Kentuckian with a d'arce choke in a semifinal match.

"I really didn't like the guy," Escudero says. "I might've played it cool, smiled and laughed, but I didn't like him. But after we fought, there were no more arguments and drama from him. He talked a lot of crap, and he wasn't able to back it up."

There is no such bad blood between he and Nover. In fact, both fighters are excellent ambassadors for the sport (Nover is a New York hospital emergency room nurse).

During the season, both Nogueira and UFC President Dana White spoke glowingly of Nover, who they compared to current champions Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre in terms of athleticism and potential.

By inference, that would likely mean they expect Nover to emerge as the TUF lightweight champion, but that doesn't bother Escudero. To him, it's just another opponent, and another chance to honor his father.

"Win or lose, I'll leave it all in the cage," he says. "I'm not going to be like Junie and say I'm going to do this or that. I'm leaving it all out there. If I fight my heart out and lose, he's the better man. If I beat him, I want to beat the Phillipe that has dominated every opponent he's faced so far."

"I have my dad's presence," he continued. "I'm dedicating the whole show to my father. My goal is to get on the mic, and the only way to get on the mic is by beating Phillipe. Then I'll have a chance to tell everyone why I did this show. I want to tell everyone that this whole show, and everything I've done is because of my dad."