UFC Fight Night - Paige VanZant vs Rose Namajunas: 'Thug' Namajunas is ideal opponent for VanZant, writes Dan Hardy
In a week that will see over 30 fights take place inside the UFC Octagon, British UFC welterweight and UFC commentator, Dan Hardy, will be looking ahead at all of the action across the three events in this column. First up, are his thoughts on Namajunas vs. VanZant, the main event topping the bill on Thursday’s fight card
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Your support makes all the difference.When I first became a UFC fan we would have to wait weeks between events, excited to see what match-ups would be on the next card. When I look back on those times and reminisce, it’s astonishing that in only a few years we have gone from one show every couple of months, to three in a week. On Thursday we are kicking off with what can only be described as a UFC extravaganza! The highly anticipated featherweight championship fight between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will be the crescendo of what is the biggest week in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, but we have two thrilling fight cards to entertain us before we get to the Aldo/McGregor show.
First up, and in another sign of the sport’s development in the last few years, the main event of Thursdays card will feature two female athletes in the UFC’s newest division. Rose Namajunas, contestant on Team Melendez of The Ultimate Fighter, currently sits at #3 in the straw-weight division. Known also as ‘Thug’, for her tough girl attitude and aggressive fighting style, she is the ideal counterpart for her opponent, Paige VanZant. Training out of Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male, VanZant may look like the typical California sweetheart, but when the bell rings, she transforms into a fearsome competitor.
Both of these girls are in the early stages of their career. They are confident and talented, and believe that they can beat anyone in the division, including the champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and on a good night anything is possible, especially in MMA. Because they are both so aggressive, it’s hard to imagine this fight being anything but a wild scramble, although Rose is likely to want a little more distance than Paige. Her striking is cleaner and she would therefore do better to work at a slightly longer range than VanZant. It will not be easy though, as Paige has a tendency to swarm her opponent and keep a high work rate until the pressure begins to expose some weaknesses.
In her fight against veteran fighter, Felice Herrig, VanZant dominated the exchanges out of sheer enthusiasm. As is typical with Team Alpha Male, she always comes in with superb conditioning, and the strong wrestling base of that team supports her steamrolling style. Namajunas’ advantage, meanwhile, is that she has her fiancé in her corner, former UFC heavyweight, Pat Barry. He is a talented kick boxer with Octagon experience, and as they live together the fight will be a constant topic of conversation. I know just from following them both on social networks that their days are entirely dedicated to fight preparation.
There is another thing about this fight which I find very intriguing. As popular as both of these ladies are, Paige is definitely considered to be ‘the darling’ of the UFC by the media and fans. She is always happy and smiling, and it’s no secret that the UFC marketing machine is having a field day with her. Rose is, in my opinion, the antithesis of that. From a troubled upbringing and challenging adolescent years, there is definitely a feeling that she has grown up fighting. She began martial arts at the age of five, which is very different to VanZant’s background of ballet and dance.
A short while after the fight was announced Namajunas made what I think is a very powerful statement. She shaved her head and sent out a photo stating that her long hair was inconvenient for training. She ran the image with the accompanying statement, “It’s a fight, not a beauty pageant”. Now this may have been a simple, practical decision, but the fact that she is fighting VanZant tells me something more. Paige is as popular for her looks as she is for her combative talents. By Rose cutting off her hair, she is stating that she is not concerned with how she looks, but about winning the fight. It felt almost like a dare for Paige to show her commitment to the fight by doing the same thing.
It could yet prove be a clever move by Namajunas, and that demonstration of commitment may show through in the fight, especially given the fact that this will be contested over five rounds, which will be a first for both fighters. What I know for sure is that it’ll be an action packed Octagon when these two get in there together. You won’t want to miss it, so you can catch all of the action from the whole card on UFC Fight Pass from 11.45pm on Thursday night.
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