UFC Fight Night 80 was supposed to be Paige VanZant’s next step to greatness. Instead, Rose Namajunas played the role of spoiler with a fifth-round submission victory in the evening’s main event.
UFC on Fox tweeted the official result:
“Thug” Rose set the tone from the outset of the fight with an absolutely dominant first round. Her striking was much more crisp than VanZant’s, and she nearly turned a takedown attempt from her opponent into a rear-naked choke.
The round ended with a bloodied VanZant and a confident Namajunas. Josh Gross of ESPN was one of many who scored the round 10-8 for the eventual winner:
The second verse looked a whole lot like the first for Namajunas. Her superior technique continued to be the difference as VanZant struggled to find success on the feet or on the ground. Connor Ruebusch of Heavy Hands noted her improvement since losing to Carla Esparza:
That improvement continued to show as the fight wore on. VanZant proved that she possesses serious toughness, escaping another tight submission attempt from Namajunas in Round 3. However, Namajunas simply smothered VanZant at every turn.
But toughness only goes so far. After surviving yet another round, PVZ eventually found herself in a position she couldn’t get out of. Namajunas once again took her back and applied the rear-naked choke and finally got the tap.
The win for Namajunas confirms the No. 3 ranking she carried into the fight. Despite the higher ranking over No. 7 VanZant, Thug Rose came into the bout as a 5-4 underdog, per Odds Shark.
That number likely has a lot to do with the hype surrounding her opponent. It was no secret that the UFC loved VanZant’s public appeal heading into the fight. She has stirred up a lot of fanfare based on her looks and tremendous potential in the Octagon at just 21 years old. Reporter Mike Bohn noted UFC President Dana White‘s remarks on PVZ’s potential:
However, Namajunas reminded folks that she has plenty of potential of her own at just 23 years old. She’s now won back-to-back fights since losing a title fight to Carla Esparza in her official UFC debut. In a division with few contenders for the current champion, that’s enough to be in the conversation for a title shot in the near future.
It’s a position she didn’t let herself think about leading up to the bout, but knows is on the horizon.
“Obviously, that’s what I think the people want.” Namajunas said about a title shot, per Heidi Fang of Fox Sports. “I think that people want me to be in the title shot once again. But I’m really not looking at that, I’m just focusing on this fight.”
Now that “this fight” is out of the way, it’s likely that a title shot is once again in Namajunas’ future.
She may have fallen short of defeating Esparza, but current champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is a different test altogether. After Valerie Letourneau went all five rounds with the champion, a potential bout with Namajunas is a tantalizing one for fans.
For VanZant, this is a setback, but not one that she can’t recover from. It’s clear that the UFC is invested in her success. She has an exclusive deal with Reebok, a look that appeals to the mainstream and skill in the cage that is still developing.
VanZant even acknowledged her relative inexperience in the lead-up to her fight with Namajunas.
“I’m young in this sport. I’m a new athlete,” VanZant said according to Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting. “I’ve always been an athlete, but as far as competing in MMA, I only had one amateur fight and then I went straight into pro. So I don’t know, I listen to the UFC, I listen to my manager, and I let the cards unfold.”
With just eight professional fights on her resume, VanZant still has plenty of time to become a real contender in the women’s strawweight division.
If she does, it just might be “Thug” Rose sitting at the top of the division to meet her once again.
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