Photo Courtesy: VanBergen Model Photography
The women’s strawweight division was just recently introduced into the UFC in late 2014 and in just the few months since its debut the division has already risen to great heights with great matches and has already crowned two champions. Now, since the division is still relatively new to the UFC, it seems as if every strawweight competitor is a title contender, but one that possibly comes to every fans mind the most is the fast and rising star, Paige VanZant.
Now some may ask why she comes to mind when she has only had 6 fights (5-1) in her career. and therefore, she does not have much experience in the sport to deserve a shot at the title. It is true that she does not have as many fights under her belt as most of the strawweights do, but what brings her into the spotlight is the way she competes inside the Octagon at only twenty-one years old and yet she fights like she has been fighting professionally for many years. With her two fights in the UFC, she showed everyone that she is not just a pretty face, but a weapon of destruction that you do not want to mess with. She even released more of her great athleticism in her second fight against Felice Herrig where she overcame the odds by a near manhandling performance over one of the top contenders in the strawweight division and a contender on The Ultimate Fighter.
With all that VanZant brings to the Octagon, it starts to become clear why she could be a title contender, but being ranked at number seven in the strawweight rankings it still seems that she has a little more work to do until fans will get to see her competing for the title. For VanZant to really earn her shot at the title, she would have to defeat more top contenders. Possible opponents for her to rise up to the top could be the winner of the Rose Namajunas vs. Nina Ansaroff match or even the Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill match, in which both fights enlist big names, and if she were to face either of those winners and come out victorious then she could once again prove to everyone how great she is at the sport of mixed martial arts, thus securing her spot as a true title contender.
Though it may be a while till fans get to see her fight in a title fight, when they do they will all be anxiously awaiting to see just how great of an athlete she is and if she has what it takes to be the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion and possibly the “Ronda Rousey” of the strawweights.
