Paige VanZant: ‘I still have two years to become the youngest belt holder’

Coming off an impressive victory over veteran Felice Herrig on at UFC on FOX 15, the sky is the limit for UFC strawweight contender Paige VanZant.
How high is the ceiling for the 21-year old Team Alpha Male fighter? She believes she has what…

Coming off an impressive victory over veteran Felice Herrig on at UFC on FOX 15, the sky is the limit for UFC strawweight contender Paige VanZant.

How high is the ceiling for the 21-year old Team Alpha Male fighter? She believes she has what it takes to set the record for youngest UFC champion.

“I still have two years to become the youngest belt holder,” VanZant said on Thursday’s edition of UFC Tonight.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones holds that mark, as he defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to claim the title at age 23 back in 2011.

Not that VanZant is looking to rush into a title fight with current UFC strawweight titleholder Joanna Jedrzejczyk tomorrow, mind you.

“I’m going to take my time and really break that record,” she said.

Meanwhile, fellow strawweight Tecia Torres, who handed VanZant her only career loss back in Invicta, has attempted to goad VanZant into a fight.

“If she got a title shot, I think that would be crazy,” Torres told MMAFighting.com. I don’t think ‘Daddy Dana’ would give her a title shot, because he doesn’t want to see her die.”

Just as VanZant refused to return Herrig’s trash talk before their fight, nor would she do so with Torres.

“I think that of course athletes are going to say these things, because they want huge draws behind fights,” VanZant said. “Ever since she said that, I got like a thousand followers, so, you know what? I had Felice say a lot of negative things going into that fight, but I’m not a negative person, and I love what I’m doing, every second of it. I don’t need those negative comments coming out of me. I just have a lot more to prove, and I think I’ll have a lot more to prove until someone younger takes my place.”