Zak Cummings Joins MMAValor as TUF 17 Blogger
Last week’s Ultimate Fighter 17 debut saw 14 fighters, including Zak Cummings survive the elimination round to make it into the house. Cummings fought in the episodes second fight and scored the fastest finish of the night with a 7 second TKO against Nik Fekete. With that said, we are VERY lucky to announce that Zak Cummings will be writing a weekly TUF 17 blog right here throughout the season.
Cummings (15-3) fights out of the Springfield Fight Club and the Grindhouse gym in Missouri and was picked third (5th overall) by Chael Sonnen following the elimination fights. The Ultimate Fighter experience is like nothing these fighters have ever experienced and the rewards are life changing.
For a glimpse at whats to come each week, Below Zak talks about the elimination round in a bonus episode one recap.
How soon before the fight did you know your opponent?
Fighting to get into the house was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever encountered. We were locked in a hotel room for days while attempting to cut weight. Everyone there was thrown into a room, pushed and pulled around to Doctors, paperwork and then we hit the scales. After weigh ins were over all of the contestants went into a banquet room filled with food and we all ate together knowing that we possibly could be fighting the guy next to us. A few hours later we shuttled over to the training center where we met Dana, Chael and Jon.
We lined up to introduce ourselves and all I remember is one particular guy who was a few ahead of me, as he walked past the coaches, Chael whispered “What a STUD” this guy was. The only person any of the coaches said something about. Dana then went on to give his little spill about being a “Fucking Fighter” and giving everything you have if you want to survive this tournament. Dana began to name off the match ups. I was towards the end of the match ups so I knew my options were dwindling down.
Then Dana said it, Zak Cummings vs. Nik Fekete, and Nik just so happened to be the guy before who Chael called a stud. After asking around all I knew about my opponent was that he fought for Bellator and was a Division 1 bad ass wrestler along with being an Olympic Alternate. Needless to say, I did not want this man to get a hold of me.
What was it like having your Family there?
Having my family there was absolutely amazing. My mom and cousin have been too damn near every fight I’ve had. I was completely prepared mentally to do this all alone but after getting the call to bring four friends and family I was incredibly excited. Then it worked out that the four people that I really want there to share this experience with me was able to make it. It just made the whole experience that much sweeter.
Talk a little about the fight
I have had many fights and have seen just about every type of opponent but I was still extremely nervous for this fight. I knew the caliber of wrestler I was facing and I didn’t want to come this whole way and get taken down and laid on for 10 minutes.
Getting ready for the fight I was kind of freaking out. There were so many people stuffed into this little dressing room which made it very hot. I started questioning myself warming up; I thought I was going to gas out. Once walking out to the cage it drastically cooled down. Once the fight started I ran across to touch gloves and then Nik faked a push kick while throwing a huge overhand right. Lucky for me I timed it perfect and threw a solid lead hook catching him right on the button and sent him to the canvas in about 4 seconds. Instinct set in and I jumped on him throwing a couple more shots until the ref pushed me off calling the fight over at 7 seconds. I’m still scratching me head how they called it a TKO but whatever.
UFC president Dana White had been raving about the TUF 17 season and the fights that took place and the first episode did not disappoint. Follow Zak Cummings on twitter for the latest from him and make sure to check back for his first blog following Tuesday’s new episode of The Ultimate Fight 17.
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Category: Exclusive, Featured, Interview, MMA, UFC, Ultimate Fighter
About the Author (Author Profile)
My brain child is MMAValor, something I had wanted to do for a long time and finally it’s here. Been an MMA fan since TUF season one (play catch up all the time) and the obsession started to grow like a weed and as the sport grows so does the love for the sport. I’m a jack of all trades, a very organized person that rides an emotional roller coaster daily.Subscribe
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