A mixed martial artist with ties to a local gym has been selected to compete for a UFC contract on the TV series “The Ultimate Fighter”.

Mackenzie “Mack-Judo” Stiller, a 26-year-old from Twin Lakes, Wisconsin with a 6-1 record and wins in both Bellator and the LFA, is currently in Las Vegas, where Season 34 of the series is being filmed. Stiller, who trains at Woodstock’s One Touch Fight Team & Academy, a gym owned by Brett Brendel, competes in the strawweight division.

“When this thing started, I knew that her career was going to move pretty fast because of her skillset,” said Brendel, a Woodstock native. “Mackenzie’s skillset for women’s fighting is highly dominant. I knew from the beginning that she had all of the abilities to become a world champion if she wanted it. ... She just believed.”

“The Ultimate Fighter” has been on the air since 2005 and has filmed over 150 episodes. The long-running reality show pits up-and-coming fighters against each other in a tournament-style competition. The fighters are coached by former UFC champions like Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, who are slated to be the lead coaches in Season 34.

“I think Mackenzie has a tremendous chance of winning the entire thing,” Brendel said. “She’s going to see that she’s at a world class level, and I think she already knows it. When Mackenzie feels what she’s bringing to these people who’re already there, she’s going to realize she doesn’t just belong there. She can take the whole thing.”

While fighters compete for UFC contracts, they stay in a single Las Vegas home with no connection with the outside world. Season 34 will premiere on June 14, the same date as UFC Freedom 250, an event celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. The 12-episode season will release on Paramount+.

“I think she’ll get notoriety out of this because she’s a very likeable person,” Brendel said. “She’s got a very good personality. For all of the things that have happened in her life, for her to still have a positive attitude toward life is a testament to her spirit. I think she could be an inspiration to a lot of people when they hear her story.”

Casting for Season 34 was held in March. Stiller will be one of multiple female strawweight fighters competing for a UFC contract. Stiller, who went 4-0 as an amateur in 2022, fought her first professional bout in 2023. She went 2-1 with Bellator and 3-0 with the LFA.

Of her six professional victories, five have come via submission.

“Mackenzie is a top-10 fighter in my opinion,” Brendel said. “Judo girls love being close, and Mackenzie was able to basically steamroll through everybody in her amateur career to the point where no one wanted to fight us. ... She’s always been able to take the next jump. She’s been able to take short-notice fights at a higher level and win.”

One of Brendel’s first students, Stiller has been fighting competitively for about five years. She and Juan Resendiz, her boyfriend who also fights and trains with Brendel, hold leadership positions at the gym and serve as instructors. Often recognized by her gold tooth, Stiller adopted the nickname “Mack-Judo” from her Instagram handle.

“She’s said to me that I’m the closest thing she’s had to a dad in her life,” Brendel said. “It’s a special kind of relationship. We’ve spent a lot of time training together. She believed what we were saying were the right things, she never complained and kept working. She’s placed that trust in us from the beginning. She lives the lifestyle 24/7, 365.”

Stiller has participated in martial arts since she was 8 years old. She currently owns a black belt in judo and a second-stripe brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Growing up, she competed in over 200 judo bouts and earned several gold medals. Stiller learned Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a teenager and wrestled in high school, winning a folkstyle state title.

“I met Juan and they met each other through the gym,” Brendel said. “When we had the chance to move to a bigger facility, they decided to come with me and the active competition started. Mackenzie’s career just shot up like a rocket from there. ... Her trajectory since Day 1 and her ability to jump up in levels of competition have set her apart.”

Stiller fights out of One Touch Fight Team & Academy, an organization Brendel founded in August 2020 and has owned for nearly six years. The gym, which opened in Huntley in 2021 before relocating its base to Woodstock two years ago, is home to over 100 active members. On the competitive scene, Brendel leads a team of about eight fighters.

As its name suggests, however, the gym also teaches children about mixed martial arts. Brendel and Stiller are both instructors who teach a growing number of kids. An Iraq War veteran with a over a decade of MMA experience and a lifetime of traditional martial arts experience, Brendel maintains the same standard of discipline for kids and adults.

“The students far outweigh the fighters,” Brendel said. “Mackenzie is one of our instructors, along with myself. ... I’m trying to form those leadership roles with the kids the same way I’m trying to build up the adults. I want to make the environment some place they feel safe, strong and surrounded by people that are there to build them up.”

The gym features 2,000 square feet of mat space, a full cage, weight room, showers, sauna, cold plunge, locker rooms and more. Interested fighters or students can learn more about Brendel, Stiller and One Touch Fight Team & Academy by following on Facebook or Instagram.