Paige VanZant suffered a painful reality check last night in the main event of UFC Fight Night 80 as she suffered a one-sided beatdown at the hands of Rose Namajunas.
To her credit though, the 21 year-old is the first to hold her hands up and admit that she isn’t in the same league as ‘Thug Rose’ right now.
““I got outclassed in every way,” VanZant stated at the post-fight press conference. “I guess when I got hit I got rocked pretty bad. I’m new; I got to get my technique better.”
VanZant had been on a three fight winning streak in the UFC, but after being initially being paired up with Joanne Calderwood – a tough fight in itself – but an injury to her opponent led to the No.3 ranked Namajunas being drafted in as a replacement and that proved to be several steps to far up the ladder for the much talked about up and comer to handle.
Despite being put through the wringer for the best part of five rounds VanZant showed a great deal of courage under fire in the Octagon and she showed the same strength of character post-fight by vowing to get back in the gym as soon as possible and improve as a mixed martial artist.
“I’m ready to get back in the gym as soon as possible,” VanZant said. “I feel great still; obviously, I took a little damage to my face. But I want to get back in there as soon as possible. I have the heart, I have the aggression, I don’t have the technique yet, and I think everyone’s known that.”
