October - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
8
News of her first headlin-
ing fight for the UFC? That
seems secondary to VanZ-
ant’s sex appeal (ironically,
the clip isn’t sexy so much
as cute, just VanZant hav-
ing fun, but “hot fighter
in bra” gets more clicks,
right?).
Here’s the thing: there’s a
lot more to talk about in
regards to VanZant than
what she’s doing on social
media these days. How
about how she’s fitting
in with Team Alpha Male
(apparently quite well, and
she’ll be just the first of
several Alpha Male fight-
ers to enter the octagon
over that three-day stretch
in December)? How about
whether or not she’s ready
to take on Calderwood,
who is actually ranked two
spots behind her in the
UFC’s official rankings for
the women’s strawweight
divisions, but who still
may represent the tough-
est challenge of VanZant’s
young career to date?
How about talking about
title aspirations, and be-
coming the youngest UFC
champ in history — some-
thing still on the straw-
weight star’s to-do list?
And is she ready for all
this?
That’s the more perti-
nent question, really. For
all of VanZant’s success
in the octagon thus far,
there’s still a feeling that
she’s very green, has lots
to learn, and is far from
ready for a title shot in the
strawweight division. The
UFC made the right call
bringing her along slowly
and allowing her to de-
velop (and you can ignore
anyone who claims the
UFC is “protecting” her;
she hasn’t fought a can
since joining the promo-
tion), but were she to get
past Calderwood, a clash
with strawweight cham-
pion Joanna Jedrzejczyk
likely wouldn’t be far be-
hind — and while she may
very well be ready to face
Calderwood, she simply
isn’t at the level required
to dispatch Joanna Cham-
pion.
All this is symptomatic of
three things: the lack of a
standout front runner at
strawweight, the dearth of
stars in the UFC, and the
quick ascension of Paige.
The UFC needs stars, so
VanZant is pushed hard.
There aren’t a lot of op-
tions for title challengers
with Claudia Gadelha hurt,
and Paige, with a fourth
straight win, would have
as good an argument as
any. And the fact is, she’s
succeeding. She has come
on fast and strong, and re-
ally, if a fighter is winning,
the general rule of thumb
is that the path leads up-
wards.
That said, it’s not a bad
thing to put the brakes
on, even just a little, now
and then. There are plenty
of other options at straw-
weight for VanZant, and as
the saying goes, you learn
ten times as much from a
loss than you do from a
win. Aisling Daly, Julianna
Lima, Michelle Waterson
— there are lots of good
options for 12 Gauge.
Yet ready or not, here she
comes. It’ll be interesting
to see just how far she can
go, and whether the UFC
continues to apply the
brakes, or lets her loose.
