The thing about fighting in a cage is that the truth eventually comes out. Holes are exposed, mistakes are magnified, inexperience is exploited. This is almost universally so.
Thursday was the night of reckoning for Paige VanZant and, by extension, the UFC. The promotion had bet heavily on her, thrusting the 21-year-old with just a year of Octagon experience into her first main event at UFC Fight Night 80. Dana White and Co. had given her a major push with the belief that she would interest the masses and the media, and in that regard, they were mostly right.
VanZant is personable and pretty, and though MMA fans tend to prefer their heroes a bit unrefined, she seemed likable enough. They bought into her talents, making her a slight favorite against opponent Rose Namajunas, a 23-year-old who made an unsuccessful bid for the strawweight belt just a year ago but took this bout on short notice after original opponent Joanne Calderwood withdrew due to a knee injury.
It was one of those damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situations, because one moment the UFC was being accused of protecting VanZant, and the next it was being chastised for rushing her forward too quickly. After all, why move a kid toward the title so fast? At that age, there is nothing but time.
Could it be that both of the critics had legitimate points? It says a lot about the difficulty of matchmaking that an equal amount of criticism came on both sides.
It turned out to be one of those instances where the UFC lost its bet but won anyway. More amazing, it did so in two ways.
Namajunas routed VanZant. It was thorough and one-sided, and after four-and-a-half rounds of trying to recreate her “Harlem Shake” video by bloodying and battering VanZant, she finished with a rear-naked choke.
The performance was so spectacular that as the minutes went on, you could feel the spotlight shifting away from VanZant and toward Namajunas. In losing its gamble on VanZant, the UFC regained Namajunas as a star to build around.
“Coming in, I knew I had to control my emotions. I couldn’t get overly excited so I stayed calm and remained in the moment,” Namajunas said after the fight. “I thought I had the submission several times, but I guess it just needed a little bit more. I listened to my corner the whole way through and took my time. I felt amazing in there, and it was a big confidence booster to come out on top tonight. I want to take some time off and not rush anything. I want that title, but I want to know I’m ready for it when it comes.”
Given the aggressive, high-octane style of current strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and how Namajunas’ own refined style fits against hers, it’s easy to visualize a spectacular bout between the pair.
Gaining a potential title challenger wasn’t the UFC’s only positive, though; in addition, VanZant actually managed to come out of the loss by gaining new fans and additional respect. Throughout the bout, the Team Alpha Male product had to fight out of several dangerous situations, including a pair of deep armbar attempts that had her arm torqued and hyperextended. Several of her escapes drew explosive reactions from the audience.
What she lacked in skill, she showed in heart, which is often the fastest way to ingratiate yourself to a fight crowd.
A setback at this stage is not the worst thing for VanZant, anyway. Her professional career is just over three years old, and her progression was moving ahead of her skills evolution. A loss gives her a chance to step back and reset.
“I told her, ‘Tonight, you’ll learn more from this than all your wins. Just keep working,'” White said in the post-fight press conference.
Ironically, the situation she finds herself in is reminiscent of what Namajunas experienced last December, when she was the flavor of the month but suffered the title loss to Carla Esparza.
“I feel like the position she’s in right now is the one I was in a year ago,” Namajunas said. “It’s similar. She showed a lot in this fight, so I think she’s going to come back real strong.”
VanZant has some work to do and only needs to look at her opponent to believe she can get to where she needs to be. Notably, she might finally have some time to work on her all-around game. She fought three times in the last eight months, and most fighters will tell you that it is difficult to add new tools to the arsenal during training camp. Instead, most of the growth comes when there is the freedom to consistently experiment and drill.
In the immediate aftermath, VanZant seemed to accept that, admitting her shortcomings.
“There was no pressure, I’m just new,” she said while holding back tears in the post-fight press conference. “I have a lot to learn. Working with my team, getting my technique better. You can’t just be aggressive to win fights.”
So there were lessons learned, the re-establishment of a contender in Namajunas and the foundation of a reputation for VanZant. All in all, not a bad result for a lost bet.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com