Months back, current UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha labeled fellow contender Paige “12 Gauge” VanZant as a “pretty dancer” rather than a fighter. Although she suffered a bloody loss in her last bout against Rose Namajunas, the 21-year-old VanZant has definitely proven herself to be a legitimate fighter despite her good looks, and
Months back, current UFC women’s strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha labeled fellow contender Paige “12 Gauge” VanZant as a “pretty dancer” rather than a fighter.
Although she suffered a bloody loss in her last bout against Rose Namajunas, the 21-year-old VanZant has definitely proven herself to be a legitimate fighter despite her good looks, and flashy charm.
However, it also appears as if Gadelha’s statement may have been partially correct, as it was announced today (March 8, 2016) that VanZant has been selected to be part of the cast of the 22nd season of ABC’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Reality show.
The move makes sense, as “12 Gaauge” has spoken on her interest in competitive dancing in the past.
The No. 7-ranked strawweight contender won’t be the first fighter to have appeared on the show either, as former champions Randy “The Natural” Couture and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell took part in seasons 19 and nine respectively.
The upcoming season is set to premiere on March 21, 2016, lasting until sometime in May.
With that being said, the Team Alpha Male Staple will likely remain out of action until sometime late this summer at the earliest.
VanZant currently holds a 3-1 UFC record, and will look to get back to her winning ways upon her return.
Tonight at UFC 268, Rose Namajunas defends her strawweight championship agaisnt Zhang Weili. In this story from 2017, she went one on one with a much larger, more decorated opponent: Jon “Bones” Jones…well, sort of. The following…
[MMA NEWS ARCHIVES]
Tonight at UFC 268, Rose Namajunas defends her strawweight championship agaisnt Zhang Weili. In this story from 2017, she went one on one with a much larger, more decorated opponent: Jon “Bones” Jones…well, sort of. The following story is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 16, 2016, 1:34 PM]
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has a huge match on the horizon, as he’ll take on Daniel Cormier in April.
However, another opponent stepped up to the challenge on Tuesday in the form of Rose Namajunas.
Yes, the one-time UFC strawweight contender rolled with “Bones” during a training session in New Mexico at Jackson-Wink MMA. And you better believe that Namajunas pulled no punches vs. the former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.
Namajunas is coming off a devastating victory over Paige VanZant and has now won two in a row since a loss to Carla Esparza back in 2014 for the inaugural 115-pound title. She is set for a rematch with Tecia Torres this April. Torres won the first meeting via decision three years ago.
She later added a video of the two rolling, with Jones flexing his might by picking up Namajunas.
Rising UFC women’s strawweight contender Paige “12 Guage” VanZant suffered a slight set back in her last bout when she took on former title challenger “Thug” Rose Namaunas in the main event of December 10, 2015’s UFC Fight Night 80 from Las Vegas. Despite being on the short end of a brutal and bloody five
Rising UFC women’s strawweight contender Paige “12 Guage” VanZant suffered a slight set back in her last bout when she took on former title challenger “Thug” Rose Namaunas in the main event of December 10, 2015’s UFC Fight Night 80 from Las Vegas.
Despite being on the short end of a brutal and bloody five round beating, “12 Guage” recently called the loss “awesome”:
“I think it’s awesome,” VanZant told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I don’t know. I thought it was awesome. I was just looking to see how bad the cut was or where it was, because I wasn’t really sure. I saw it was under my eye, so it was good to go for the next five rounds or four rounds.”
Namajunas would go on to score a submission victory in the final frame, proving to the world that was a legitimate threat at 115-pounds, while also making it clear that the 21 year old VanZant has some holes in her game to improve on.
Although the fight was fairly one sided, PVZ has received quite a bit of praise and support regarding her pure heart, grit, and toughness, something she didn’t necessarily expect:
“I really didn’t expect that much support,” VanZant said. “I thought I embarrassed myself out there and I put on an embarrassing performance. But then afterward I had all these positive articles. I was reading all these positive things after the fight. It felt really good, especially after taking a loss not to take a ton of criticism for it. It was really neat that I still had a lot of fans come forward and my stock grew even after a loss.”
While Namajunas’ skill set was clearly the superior on fight night, VanZant was also a bloody mess from the first round on, something that may have hindered her performance as well. Not making any excuses, the Team Alpha Male product admitted the she had blood in her ears for weeks after the scrap:
“Especially because we did go to the ground a lot, I couldn’t see at all,” VanZant said. “And the blood completely filled my ears. I was cleaning blood out of my ears for three weeks after the fight. So I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t hear anything, I couldn’t see anything. No excuses. But yeah — a lot of blood.”
At the end of the day, VanZant proved that while there’s obviously room for improvement, she isn’t one to give up too easily:
“I have a no-give-up attitude,” VanZant said. “It didn’t surprise me in that sense, but it was definitely a good test.”
While looking through the lense of hindsight, it’s almost impossible to imagine how Paige VanZant was ever listed as a 2-to-1 favorite over Rose Namajunas heading into their Fight Night 80 main event. Yet she was, and we can only imagine that a lot of people made some money off a rare miss by the Vegas bookies.
Over the course of five rounds, our girl Rose utterly dismantled VanZant in every department. Her striking was impeccably crisp, her takedowns came at will, and her submissions were what ultimately won her the day. Vanzant looked completely outmatched from start to finish, repeatedly latching onto to hapless headlock throws THAT NO FIGHTER SHOULD EVER ATTEMPT AGAIN. But what she lacked in polish, VanZant more than made up in grit. On multiple occasions throughout the fight, a bloodied and battered Vanzant appeared to be caught in what any logical person would consider a fight-ending submission — first it was a rear-naked choke, then an armbar so brutal that it may have rearranged her DNA — but not once did she stop pressing forward and throwing nything she could think of at her clearly superior opponent. So on this day, we raise a glass to both competitors and say, congratulations on one epic goddamn war.
But the main event wasn’t the only fight that delivered, so head after the jump for a full list of Fight Night 80 results.
While looking through the lense of hindsight, it’s almost impossible to imagine how Paige VanZant was ever listed as a 2-to-1 favorite over Rose Namajunas heading into their Fight Night 80 main event. Yet she was, and we can only imagine that a lot of people made some money off a rare miss by the Vegas bookies.
Over the course of five rounds, our girl Rose utterly dismantled VanZant in every department. Her striking was impeccably crisp, her takedowns came at will, and her submissions were what ultimately won her the day. Vanzant looked completely outmatched from start to finish, repeatedly latching onto to hapless headlock throws THAT NO FIGHTER SHOULD EVER ATTEMPT AGAIN. But what she lacked in polish, VanZant more than made up in grit. On multiple occasions throughout the fight, a bloodied and battered Vanzant appeared to be caught in what any logical person would consider a fight-ending submission — first it was a rear-naked choke, then an armbar so brutal that it may have rearranged her DNA — but not once did she stop pressing forward and throwing nything she could think of at her clearly superior opponent. So on this day, we raise a glass to both competitors and say, congratulations on one epic goddamn war.
But the main event wasn’t the only fight that delivered, so head after the jump for a full list of Fight Night 80 results.
In the co-main event of the evening, TUF Live winner Michael Chiesa took on the always game veteran Jim Miller in a back-and-forth banger so sweet that it managed to snatch “Fight of the Night” awards away from Namajunas vs. VanZant. Sadly, it’s starting to look like the younger of the Miller brothers is also starting to lose a little pep in his step, and worse, he’s more vulnerable to the submission than he’s ever been in his career. Given, he’s only been submitted three times in the past three years (well, two if we exclude the Healy fight) and only by insanely talented grapplers, but it’s kind of like how Dan Henderson went from an iron-jawed beast to a guy who gets shut down the first time he’s hit almost every fight.
In any case, enjoy these Chiesa-Miller highlights set to some blasting EDM, because the UFC is too cheap to provide embeddable highlights for their Fight Pass Events.
Finally on the highlight front, here’s Sage Northcutt‘s finish of Cody Pfister in the second round of their main card scrap. Oh, you hadn’t predicted that Sage Northcutt would beat a guy whose last name is Pfister and whose nickname is “The Pfist”? You silly, silly sonofabitch, you.
The complete Fight Night 80 results are below.
Main card
Rose Namajunas def. Paige VanZant via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:25 of R5
Michael Chiesa def. Jim Miller via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:57 of R2
Sage Northcutt def. Cody Pfister via submission (guillotine) at :41 of R2
Thiago Santos def. Elias Theodorou via unanimous decision
Undercard
Tim Means def. John Howard via KO (left hook) at :21 of R2
Omari Akhmedov def. Sergio Moraes via TKO (punches) at 2:18 of R3
Antonio Carlos Junior vs. Kevin Casey ends in no contest (eye poke) at :11 of R1
Aljamain Sterling def. Johnny Eduardo via submission (guillotine) at 4:18 of R2
Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Andreas Stahl via TKO (punches) at 4:25 of R1
Danny Roberts def. Nathan Coy via submission (triangle) at 2:46 of R1
Zubaira Tukhugov def. Phillipe Nover via split decision
Kailin Curran def. Emily Kagan via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:13 of R2
Before the main card action was underway this past Saturday night, we had a pretty eventful weekend already.
The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale saw a new women’s strawweight champion crowned, as Carla Esparza submitted Rose Namajunas in the final, after a string of pretty decent fights.
Then came UFC on FOX 13, headlined by a heavyweight fight featuring Junior dos Santos against Stipe Miocic. The prelims were strange but sufficient, Henry Cejudo winning his debut, younger-than-he-looks Joe Riggs suffering an injury in his Bellator superfight against Ben Saunders, John Moraga being dropped by Willie Gates after complaining about a low blow to the official, last-minute food poisoning for Derek Brunson, Jamie Varner retiring after a loss with hopes of starting a fighter union, Ryan Jimmo’s terrible seats, Phil Baroni’s shlong, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk outpointing Claudia Gadelha (who pulled a Paul Daley in the heat of the moment, but apologized right away) to go on to face Esparza in the near future.
Before the main card action got underway this past Saturday night at UFC on FOX 13, we had seen a pretty eventful weekend already.
The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale saw a new women’s strawweight champion crowned, as Carla Esparza submitted Rose Namajunas in the final, after a string of pretty decent fights.
Then came UFC on FOX 13, headlined by a heavyweight fight featuring Junior dos Santos against Stipe Miocic. The prelims were strange but sufficient, with Henry Cejudo winning his debut, younger-than-he-looks Joe Riggs suffering an injury in his Bellator superfight against Ben Saunders, John Moraga being dropped by Willie Gates after complaining about a low blow to the official, last-minute food poisoning for Derek Brunson, Jamie Varner retiring after a loss with hopes of starting a fighter union, Ryan Jimmo’s terrible seats, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk outpointing Claudia Gadelha (who pulled a Paul Daley in the heat of the moment, but apologized right away) to go on to face Esparza in the near future.
All those happenings revolved around a huge story that broke in the afternoon courtesy of Bloody Elbow, but don’t worry, we’ll get to that in a bit.
The stage was set for the remaining four fights on prime time television, featuring three heavyweight battles and a lightweight battle consisting of one dude that apparently makes heavyweights shit their pants.
Speaking of which, Nate Diaz was buried by the UFC as soon as the show got underway, with footage of the Stockton fighter walking out on his pre-fight interview. And frankly, we can’t blame him, because who wouldn’t get sick of answering how you’re going to topple your foe for the past seven years?
Let’s get the two opening fights out of the way, as Matt Mitrione excelled in somewhat of a crossroads fight, knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga in two minutes. Mitrione’s performance couldn’t have been any better, as he clocked Gonzaga and followed up with fight-ending blows, and even had to deliver the last kiss when referee Herb Dean failed to stop the fight and allowed Gonzaga to take one last brutal shot that clearly knocked him out.
It was great to see a healthy Stefan Struve compete again after his fainting spell at UFC 175, and it’s safe to say nearly everyone that was familiar with that story felt a little nervous about the “Skyscraper” stepping inside the cage again. There were no conditioning issues, but unfortunately, Struve suffered his fifth knockout loss in the UFC at just 26 years old. Alistair Overeem brutalized his fellow Dutchman with ground-and-pound, leaving his younger opponent on the receiving end of a beatdown.
It’s hard to say where this leaves the “Demolition Man,” but at least the K-1 Grand Prix champion isn’t in hot water, and will most likely take on Mark Hunt or the night’s main event winner.
Back to Diaz, he came in nearly five pounds overweight for his lightweight tussle against Rafael dos Anjos, meaning the battle was contested at a catchweight. It was as one-sided as they get, with the Brazilian brutalizing Diaz’s lead leg, forcing the former 155-pound title challenger to limp early. In the end, dos Anjos was better than Diaz everywhere, and even mauled him on the ground for what it’s worth.
At the post-fight presser, UFC President Dana White, who was already not fond of his fighter’s actions, expressed his concerns about Diaz’s future, citing he gets serious or retires. We don’t have crystal balls, but chances are Diaz won’t retire, and that thought is laughable, since White is more or less suggesting the younger Diaz brother — who always “played the game” unlike his older brother — doesn’t have options elsewhere. His manager Mike Kogan is buddies with Bellator boss Scott Coker, not to mention the promotion’s new matchmaker. The case of Diaz will presumably develop in the coming days, yet if there were ever a time for a fighter to lash out after his company tried to put a suit and tie on him, it’s now.
The main event saw Junior dos Santos defeat Stipe Miocic by unanimous decision, although the two 49-46 scorecards were downright terrible. The firefighter clearly won the opening two rounds, clocking the Brazilian with his crisp boxing and had the former heavyweight champion in a bit of trouble. The Brazilian came on strong for the remainder of the fight, dropping his foe, but took the same amount of damage in the five-round slugfest.
It was one of those fights where you can’t have a problem with JDS winning, or losing, for that matter. It was a close fight, and although MMA blowhards are susceptible to call robbery every time they don’t agree with the judges, this was one of those “either/or” cases. The criteria to be a judge must be a high school degree and 48 hours of community service working at a Salvation Army, yet we already knew that. However, the fight wasn’t exactly an instant classic, as some journalists would have called it. It was damn good, and maybe one that needs a rewatch on Monday morning with a few slices of leftover pizza for breakfast. But please, refrain from saying it was “one for the ages” and all that jazz.
Who knows where this leaves JDS, though, if Cain Velasquez beats Fabricio Werdum in the next few months. Werdum has a loss to dos Santos, so that’s compelling, but Velasquez mauled the Brazilian twice, so it’s kind of senseless. It’s a question that will be relevant until his next fight is announced (which could be against a former rival in Overeem), so let’s not dwell on specifics and let the chips fall where they may. Still, there’s a growing concern for how much damage dos Santos takes. Some bust and bleed easy, however, he’s starting look a tad like Miss Piggy.
So, all in all, UFC on FOX 13 proved to be a damn good night of fights, capping off a weekend where the promotion crowned a new champ and Rousimar Palhares held on to Jon Fitch’s leg for too long elsewhere. Credit the UFC for the latter half of 2014 being relatively awesome, as they are currently on a good run of exciting fights these past few months minus a crop of fights being canned due to injuries.
With a new sponsorship deal and controversies like failed drug tests, a rankings overhaul done by “proper” media, and domestic abuse not far away, 2015 can’t come any sooner, with news breaking yesterday about a class action lawsuit against UFC officials, with their own fighters (and managers) challenging them in the court. Apparently, it’s for $100s of millions of dollars, stemming from the promotion “abusing their market power to intentionally and systematically cripple the free market,” and cites the Reebok deal, too.
There have been plenty of game changers in the past, but this one is huge. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, with the UFC inching closer to dominating the whole landscape of fighting, while the fans and observers have to resort to keeping up with over 40 events a year. Just when we thought this carnival sport had stolen our souls (let’s face it, it did), there’s actually hope for the future.
The UFC crowned its first women’s strawweight champion last night. Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas tore through the cast of The Ultimate Fighter season 20 and met one another in the finals.
Namajunas had a great showing in the first round, but in the second and third, Esparza’s wrestling and power became too much for Namajunas to handle. She took Namajunas down at will and controlled her easily, eventually taking her back in the third round and securing a rear naked choke.
Get the fight card’s complete results — including KJ Noons vs. Daron Cruickshank and Charles Oliveira vs. Jeremy Stephens — after the jump.
Namajunas had a great showing in the first round, but in the second and third, Esparza’s wrestling and power became too much for Namajunas to handle. She took Namajunas down at will and controlled her easily, eventually taking her back in the third round and securing a rear naked choke.
The card’s co-main event featured Jeremy Stephens and Charles Oliveira. The contest was one-sided, with Oliveira taking Stephens down repeatedly and nearly locking in arm-bar after arm-bar. To Stephens’ credit, he managed to escape every one — even the harrowing arm-bar attempts where his arm was completely extended. However, he barely landed any significant offense throughout the fight. Oliveira just smothered him too much with constant pressure in the wrestling department as well as unending submission attempts. The judges awarded Oliveira with a unanimous decision win.
Here are the complete results from the TUF 20 Finale:
Main Card
Carla Esparza def. Rose Namajunas via submission (rear naked choke) 1:26 of round 3
Charles Oliveira def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
KJ Noons and Darron Cruickshank ends in a no contest via accidental eye poke, 0:25 of round 2.
Yancy Medeiros def. Joe Proctor via submission (guillotine), 4:37 of round 1.
Jessica Penne def. Randa Markos via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Felice Herrig def. Lisa Ellis via submission (arm-bar), 1:53 of round 2.
Heather Jo Clark def. Bec Rawlings via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Joanne Calderwood def. Seo Hee Ham via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).
Tecia Torres def. Angela Magana via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Aisling Daly def. Alex Chambers via submission (arm bar), 4:53 of round 1.
Angela Hill def. Emily Kagan via unanimous decisio (30-27, 30-26, 30-27)
