Paige VanZant is obviously one of the rising stars in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's division who may someday succeed reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. And to that effect, the 21-year-old female fighter will be showing more of her skills after inking a new contract with the UFC.
VanZant, highly regarded as the next Ronda Rousey for some similarities in fighting style, is 3–0 in the UFC scene. She last fought Alex Chambers of Australia last Sept. 5 at UFC 191, finishing her off with a familiar armbar submission move made famous no less by the reigning UFC women's champion.
VanZant will return to the Octagon in December against Joanne Calderon at a UFC Fight Night Event to be held inside The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
VanZant is currently ranked sixth in the strawweight division. Aside from putting on impressive performances, her fame has been made even more sweeter when she got sponsorship backing from Reebok.
"Listen, people love that girl. She has a great personality — I don't know if you saw the Instagram of her dancing out in front of her car. That's awesome," says UFC President Dana White via UFC.com. "She has the personality. Some people have that 'it factor' that you can't teach people, and Paige has it," he added.
In the ring, there is no question that VanZant can be unpredictable. With a wide repertoire of maneuvers that will make her potential opponents thinking, one can just imagine how more fights will mold VanZant closer to being a next Ronda Rousey.
VanZant is, of course, flattered by the comparison but admits that she is far off from what Rousey has already accomplished inside and outside the UFC.
All that aside, her main focus right now is Calderon who is someone she cannot afford to take lightly. Seeing that Calderon is a striker as well, how does VanZant see their upcoming December tiff?
"I think it's a great matchup for me stylistically,"VanZant said via the Las Vegas Review Journal. "It's the one I asked for," she appended.
