On June 28th, the 9th episode of season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter was released and starred Elevation Fight Team and High Altitude Martial Art’s own, Zac Pauga in the semifinal heavyweight fight.
Zac had to fight his fellow Team Pena teammate, Jordan Heiderman, as three members of Team Pena’s heavy weight fighters made it to the semifinals while only one did from Team Nunes. Since the two fighters would have been using Pena as their corner, they were both allowed to fly in their coaches from home. Vinnie Lopez, a striking coach for Elevation Fight Team was able to join Zac and help him prepare for his semi-final bout and act as Zac’s corner during the fight. Lopez spoke very highly of Zac, saying how impressive his skill is given the short amount of time he has been training and credits it to being able to train with some of the best fighters in the world, including Alistar Overeem and Curtis Blaydes.
Semifinalists were allowed to make a phone call home for the first time since the show started, and Zac was able to speak to his wife, Jess and kids. He said seeing them again “reminds me why I am here” and expressed how excited he was to see them again once he goes home. He also expressed extreme gratitude to his wife for taking care of them when he is gone, and that everything he does on this show is for them or in his words, “his tribe.” Zac also celebrated his 34th birthday during the recording of this weeks episode, so his team got him a cake and chased him around with some silly string to celebrate and make an otherwise lonely birthday a little bit more special.
At weigh in, Zac came in at 244 pounds while his opponent came in at 247. Zac is 4 years Jordans senior at 34, and both fighters measure in at 6’2” with a 78 inch reach, making this a very physically even fight.
Fight recap
Round 1
The first round started with both fighters feeling out each other’s range, with Zac landing some good shots to the body and head while also avoiding Jordan’s strikes. After only 1.15 minutes, Zac landed a very significant strike on Jordan, briefly stunning him. Jordan had no answers to these early strikes and was visibly on his backfoot. Halfway through the round, Jordan was able to shoot on Zac and take his back, securing a body lock in top position. Zac quickly dragged them both to the cage, where he picked apart Jordans grip and took the fight back to the center of the ring. Zac immediately turned up the pressure, landing powerful jabs to Jordan’s head and body without receiving much back in return. Before the round ended, Zac threw a beautiful spinning backfist and followed with a strong knee to the body, certainly securing the round for himself having sustained little to no damage.
Round 2
Jordan came out swinging in the start of round two but not for long. Zac landed a powerful left hook and followed up with two more strikes, sending Jordan to the ground. Zac followed to lay on some ground and pound, but the ref was already running in to stop the fight. In less than 40 seconds, Zac was declared the winner by TKO.
Up Next
With this win Zac will be taking part in the live season finale. In episode 11, we will see fellow housemate, Mohammud Usman, compete for his spot in the live season finale and potentially see a Pauga vs. Usman card for the finale and the UFC contract.
