The moment Zachary
Reese earned his first
Ultimate Fighting Championship victory on Saturday, he
remembered his late brother Austin, who had pushed him toward this
journey.
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Having grown up watching the UFC, Reese has been dreaming of being
a fighter since high school. “Savage” started his pro career with
six consecutive first round finishes — including one on
Dana White’s Contender Series last year to earn his UFC
contract. However, Reese’s hype train was derailed in his
promotional debut by a first-round knockout loss against Cody
Brundage at UFC Austin in December 2023.
Reese returned to the win column on Saturday with a 20-second
knockout of Julian
Marquez at UFC
on ESPN 57.
“I feel like a million bucks man,” Reese said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “I’m just like all
you fans, when I was in high school I used to beg my parents for
pay-per-view money or we’d go to Buffalo Wild Wings when we
couldn’t scrounge up the bucks. And yeah, it’s been a dream of mine
to be in the UFC, since I was in high school and sure here I am,
all these years later I got my first win, feels amazing man.”
Reese dedicated the win to his brother, who motivated him to take
up MMA as a career when they were both working in the oil fields.
Austin Reese was
killed in a hit-and-run accident in December 2021.
“I thought about my brother in that moment,” he said. “You know my
brother was the one that really pushed. We always watched the UFC
together, and he always pushed me. We were working in the oil
fields together making decent money, he’s like, ‘Quit your job, go
f—ing try to be a UFC fighter.’ And that’s what I did and sure here
we were. Yeah, this one’s for you Austin, I love you man.
Definitely gonna drink a few beers tonight for you.”
Having been a fan himself, Reese doesn’t like boring fighters and
vows to never become one.
“I hope the fans will resonate with my style bro, because I grew up
a fan and I hate boring fighters,” he said. “And I’ll never be a
boring fighter. I’ll die before I’m in a boring fight.”