This weekend, a fighter that has emerged as a potential star, will face the biggest challenge of their career so far.
No, it isn’t rising middleweight Luke Rockhold or talented featherweight, Max Holloway. It is the 21 year old strawweight, Paige VanZant. At only 4-1 and one UFC fight, VanZant has emerged as a marketing dream for the UFC. Her debut for the promotion saw her pick up a ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus and plaudits from media and fans alike. It didn’t end there though. Not even sx months later and VanZant finds herself on the main card of a UFC on FOX card, as well as being a sponsored athlete by the UFC’s official partner, Reebok.
While the current strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk has blown fans away with scintillating performances, it is VanZant that has put herself more in to the mainstream, with AskMen.com ranking her at number 53 in the ‘top 99 outstanding women’. While VanZant definitely showed some talent in her stoppage of Kailin Curran, however it is hard to deny that it is the looks of VanZant that is pushing the attention in a sport that has a sizable demographic of 18-34 year-old men. And that is not necessarily a problem, despite the flaws it can present.
This weekend, VanZant will meet Felice Herrig, who at nearly ten years her elder, knows a thing or two about marketing herself. Herrig, is a veteran of the sport, fighting for the likes of Bellator and XFC prior to getting the nod on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. Herrig is perhaps more known for her out-of-the cage antics, than she is for her in the cage performances and that is something that she is concious of in a sport that is lacking in cash for a number of the athletes. That is why it was interesting to hear Herrig’s thoughts on how the UFC are promoting VanZant in a recent interview with Fox Sports.
[quote]“I think it’s just because she’s new and people really haven’t seen her or what she’s all about. You jump on what you think is going to be the next big thing. I do firmly believe that when you build something from the ground floor on your own, it lasts longer. There’s longevity in it. I think you see all the time in music you have those one-hit wonders or those people that have their 15 minutes of fame.
I’m not saying that’s how I see Paige, but I will be surprised if Paige could make it last.”[/quote]
Fair comments from a fighter ranked in the top ten, VanZant though does seem to be working hard to avoid those kind of problems. She has linked up with Urijah Faber, one of the most respected athletes in the sport and a coach that has helped nurture through the likes of current bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and top 145 pound contender, Chad Mendes. That is not to say that a loss would kill the career of VanZant. A loss, although hard to take would still garner the experience that she needs and when she reaches 26, a loss at 21 is going to be one that only the avid MMA fan will enthuse about.
Things got heated between the two this week, and a division that is fairly new to the mainstream MMA fan needs someone to step out and grab the attention similar to Ronda Rousey did. Paige VanZant just may be the answer to that dilemma.
