It wasn't too long ago that Ronda Rousey made mention that she may be retiring when she reaches her 30s. It seems that the UFC Women's champ has done it all and has found no one worthy of taking her down.
With Rousey now at a budding 28 years of age, that time could come soon. So if there are no worthy opponents and she does retire, who will step up in her place?
The first thing that comes to mind are the opponents that she has taken down. It could be Miesha Tate or even Holly Holm depending on how their match this November turns out. Cris "Cyborg" Justino could be another if ever she does make the roster.
But what about a little-known 21-year-old fighter named Paige VanZant?
VanZant is practically a neophyte in the UFC right now but she is showing some semblance of Rousey. She just registered her third straight triumph at the expense of Alex Chambers, whom she finished with a familiar Rousey hold — an armbar.
But the comparison doesn't stop there. VanZant has shown he has a lot of offensive repertoire of striking moves, something that Rousey has been integrating as of late.
So is VanZant the fighter to succeed the current and undefeated UFC Women's bantamweight champ?
For VanZant, such is a compliment. However, she also admits that those are pretty huge shoes to fill.
She admits that she has a long way to go before she can agree to a comparison with Rousey; for now, it is all about working her way up the UFC ladder.
As far as UFC president Dana White is concerned, VanZant has the tools to be a successful UFC fighter.
At the UFC 191 post-event news conference
"She has all the attributes of a little rock star," he stated in a press conference following UFC 191. "She's got a great personality, she's absolutely relentless when she fights; she puts (Demetrious) 'Mighty Mouse' (Johnson) type pressure on fighters, and yesterday, she was the most searched fighter on UFC.com. People love her," White also said.
Check out her backstage interview after her win over Chambers below.
