Jordan Heiderman outlasted the opposition to punch his ticket to the Ultimate Fighter 30 heavyweight semifinals.

In Episode 7’s featured fight, Heiderman (5-0) made the most of the “sudden victory” period to put Chandler Cole (8-3)* away with ground-and-pound. TUF 30 bouts are scheduled as two-round affairs, but the scorecards were tied after two, which meant the fighters were given five more minutes to compete.

Cole — who entered the bout with a UCL ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow — landed the most exciting strike of the bout in Round 1 when he caught Heiderman with a spinning kick to the head out of nowhere that sent Heiderman tumbling to the fence. Heiderman recovered, but had a lot of ground to make up in Round 2.

In the second round, Heiderman picked up the pace and found success with straight punches, though it was a closely fought period and Cole’s coach Amanda Nunes felt that he did enough to win the fight. However, the judges scored Round 2 for Heiderman, leading to the fateful third.

Later, Team Nunes questioned whether the bout should have even gone to sudden victory. UFC President Dana White also said that he felt Cole did enough to win the first two rounds and the fight.

Regardless, Team Julianna Peña improved to 5-2 in the competition, with three of her heavyweights (Heiderman, Zac Pauga, and Mohammed Usman) advancing to the next round. Eduardo Perez is Nunes’ lone heavyweight to make the semifinals.

For the final opening round flyweight fight of the season, Team Peña’s Hannah Guy (4-1) fights Team Nunes’ Brogan Walker (7-2).

Here are the first-round results so far:

Zac Pauga def. Nyle Bartling via unanimous decision

Kaytlin Neil def. Helen Peralta via split decision

Mohammed Usman def. Mitchell Sipe via unanimous decision

Laura Gallardo def. Kathryn Paprocki via majority decision

Eduardo Perez def. Bobby Maximus via TKO (strikes) (R1, 3:58)

Juliana Miller def. Claire Guthrie via unanimous decision

Jordan Heiderman def. Chandler Cole via TKO (strikes) (R1, time not announced)

On next week’s episode, Team Peña’s Hannah Guy fights Team Nunes’ Brogan Walker in a flyweight bout.

(*TUF bouts are considered exhibitions and fighters’ pro records are not affected by the results on the show)

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Season 30 of The Ultimate Fighter is coached by UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña and UFC featherweight champion Amanda Nunes. Peña defends her title against Nunes in a rematch that serves as the main event of UFC 277 on July 30 in Dallas.

The finalists of the TUF 30 heavyweight and flyweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract at a finale event with a date still to be announced.

New episodes premiere at midnight every Monday exclusively on ESPN+.

Here is the TUF 30 roster divided by team:

Team Nunes

Heavyweights
Nyle Bartling
Chandler Cole
Eduardo Perez
Mitchell Sipe

Flyweights
Claire Guthrie
Kaytlin Neil
Kathryn Paprocki
Brogan Walker

Team Peña

Heavyweights
Jordan Heiderman
Bobby Maximus
Zac Pauga
Mohammed Usman

Flyweights
Chantel Coates
Laura Gallardo*
Hannah Guy
Juliana Miller
Helen Peralta

*replacement for Chantel Coates

Advancing to semifinals: Pauga, Neil, Usman, Gallardo, Perez, Miller, Heiderman

Eliminated: Bartling, Peralta, Sipe, Coates, Paprocki, Maximus, Guthrie, Cole