LAS VEGAS – Zac Pauga says there’s no need to ask him how he’ll win future fights.
While he hopes to accumulate more finishes going forward, Pauga (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) pointed to his UFC Fight Night 219 co-main event win Saturday over Jordan Wright (12-5 MMA, 2-5 UFC) at the UFC Apex as a preview.
Pauga utilized the clinch along the cage and made the fight ugly with short strikes. The strategy was enough to earn him a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
“It’s just the next step,” Pauga told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I’ve got big plans, and that was just the first step. … That fight was exactly what we planned to do: Push him up against the wall. That’s what I’m going to do to everybody. That’s my plan. You don’t have to ask me anymore. I’m going to push every single light heavyweight against the cage and elbow their face off.”
Who does Pauga want to be the other part of a two-man equation in his quest to squish another human into chainlink? One name was on the tip of Pauga’s tongue due to a fight fallout.
“I want to get right back in here, April 22 (or) May 6,” Pauga said. “I’ve got friends on both of those cards. My coaches are already going to be here. Find me an opponent. The first guy they offered me for tonight was Anton Turkalj and he turned it down. You’ve got one fight in the UFC, man. You can’t turn down fights. Let’s go. I don’t know when the last time he fought was. Let’s get both of us on one of those soon cards (in) late April or early May.”
Turkalj (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) currently is booked for March 11 vs. newcomer Vitor Petrino (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 211 in Las Vegas.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 219.
Zac Pauga vows to ‘push every single light heavyweight against the cage and elbow their face off’
