Paige VanZant admits that she doesn’t see the need to stress out about being rushed into a strawweight championship in the UFC fight if she wins over Rose Namajunas this coming UFC Fight Night 80.
Since her MMA debut back in 2014, VanZant has been eyeing on the chance to get a slot in a title fight. With her amazing skillset, VanZant has always been tagged as the one perfect to go against current strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, but since VanZant is still at a tender age of 21 and with just seven pro fights on her record, a lot of spectators think that the chance for a title fight could possibly come too early in her MMA career.
VanZant, who has a current record of 6-1 MMA and 3-0 UFC, has always been very open to her strategy of taking things to a title fight slowly. But this time around, she admits that winning over Namajunas, who holds a record of 3-2 MMA and 1-1 UFC and who went against Carla Esparza in a inaugural UFC strawweight title fight, could definitely speed things up and quickly put her in a top position of the division.
However, she made it clear that she’s focusing her energy to make this bout successful and she’s not really worried about the possible opportunity or fallout that this event may bring.
“I listen to the UFC, I listen to my managers and I let the cards unfold. Right now this is the perfect fight for me and I’m really pumped up for this fight, but obviously after beating someone ranked No. 3 (in the UFC rankings), there’s not very many people above to get to the champ,” VanZant said during a recent interview with MMAjunkie.
UFC Fight Night 80 will be aired on UFC Fight Pass. The event will be held at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan at Las Vegas this coming December 10th. The main event for the night would be the fight between VanZant and Namajunas.
VanZant was actually supposed to fight Joanne Calderwood. Unfortunately, Calderwood got injured in training and had no choice but to withdraw from the fight. Both MMA fighters were given ample time to prepare for the entire five rounds. VanZant admits that she anticipates a great fight because both of the intensity styles that both of them have.
“I’m really excited about this matchup it was the perfect one for this time. I’m excited to go up against someone in this fight that’s ranked higher because it brings me closer and closer to a fight with the champion. I’m excited for this matchup, it’s perfect for me,” VanZant said.
VanZant also admitted that she is very confident that she’ll be leaving the cage victorious and with a new record of 4-0 in her MMA career.
“I’m excited about this matchup, I’m excited to beat someone in the top-five and move up in the rankings. It’s a great fight for me and I’m excited for it and I’m just excited to get back in there and excited to get past this fight. I plan on beating Rose on Dec. 10 then whoever the UFC calls me with I’m going to be ready for,” VanZant added.