September - 2016
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
12
What an incredible head-kick
Paige ‘12 Gauge’ VanZant
made her comeback on Aug.
27, at UFC on Fox 21, and won
by knockout against Bec Rawl-
ings in the second round, an
impressive turnaround from
her first UFC loss after win-
ning her three previous fights
for the promotion, after ‘Thug’
Rose Namajunas showed her in
Dec of 2015 the difference in
skillset from the women on top
of the strawweight mountain
– to the ones below climbing,
PVZ showed the world watch-
ing – she is still improving, and
she isn’t going anywhere.
And what a way she reintro-
duced herself to the MMA
fans watching in the arena
and around the world – With
a switch-kick knockout in the
second round! – My oh my, shit
just got real interesting.
“I feel so good, and I just feel
like I belong in the UFC, and
of course I’m so blessed and
thankful that I get to do all
these outside opportunities,
but, the UFC made me, and I
belong here.”
The kick was a new wrinkle to
the otherwise ‘pressure-heavy’
fighting style we normally see
from the young 22-year-old
prospect, and PVZ told in in-
terviews afterwards that she
thought that she needed to
avoid the strong boxing-game
of Bec, and her assumptions
was accurate, as Rawlings was
finding success with her boxing
in the first round as long as PVZ
was inside her arm reach, and
that switch kick kept Paige on
the outside of it.
After what seemed to be fairly
unsuccessful kicking attempts
from PVZ in the first round,
even in her own corner after
the first round her coaches told
her something similar to ‘No
Where Should Paige VanZant
Aim Her ’12 Gauge’ Now?
Article By: Christian Larusson
