UFC on Fox 22 was supposed to launch Paige VanZant back to the path of stardom. Instead, the 22-year-old was upended by Michelle Waterson in the main event in Sacramento, California. The Karate Hottie defeated 12 Gauge by first-round submission.
MMA Fighting tweeted out the official result:
As it turns out, VanZant‘s ground game simply isn’t where needs to be quite yet. After some early striking from range for both fighters, Waterson clinched VanZant against the cage. Closing the distance turned out to be key for Waterson, as she was able to toss VanZant to the mat and almost immediately took her back.
The UFC posted the grappling exchange:
From there it became a back-and-forth for Waterson to sink in a rear-naked choke. Although VanZant hesitated to tap, the pressure was simply too much. Waterson did a great job of adjusting her grip and tightening the hold.
MMA Fighting immediately tabbed her as a contender to watch in the strawweight division after locking up the win:
The win marks a comeback of sorts for Waterson. The former Invicta FC atomweight champion has been out of action since July 2015, but she wanted to come back to show the work she’s been putting in the gym while recovering from injuries, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
“It’s kind of a ‘I’m back’ moment for me. I’ve been in the gym, even through the injuries, I’ve been training everyday so for the people that train me and train with me and know me, they know I haven’t gone anywhere. But for anybody else that don’t know who I am, I’m happy to show them what I’ve learned.”
The win should put Waterson back in the top 10. The 30-year-old came into this fight with a 1-0 record in the UFC, eight submission wins to her name and a No. 11 ranking in the division.
With a win over No. 7 VanZant, Waterson is proving she is a legitimate threat in the women’s strawweight division.
For VanZant, the loss is an unsettling development in her career. The 22-year-old has headlined a card before, and she suffered the only other loss in her UFC career, against Rose Namajunas.
On the surface, VanZant has all the makings of the kind of celebrity the new UFC owners from talent agency WME-IMG would love to push as a marketable athlete. Her star power has already gone beyond the cage. She was a runner-up in Season 22 of Dancing with the Stars, where she competed against the likes of Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Von Miller of the Denver Broncos and former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie.
But if VanZant can’t back up that charisma and marketability with her skills in the cage, she’s going to wind up as a blip on the radar of MMA history. She definitely can win fights against lower-level competition, but winning against the upper echelon has proven to be difficult for her.
Until she’s able to step up to competition, her ability to be one of the faces of the UFC is going to be limited.
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