WMMA news / general discussion

[stymie]

Paige VanZant vs. Michelle 'The Karate Hottie' Waterson set for UFC Sacramento main event

Paige VanZant will headline her first UFC event in December

By Jonathan Bradley
Oct 12, 2016 at 8:12p ET

UFC strawweight Paige VanZant will headline her first UFC event when she battles Michelle Waterson at UFC Fight Night in Sacramento on Dec. 17.

The exciting main event was announced during Wednesday’s episode of “UFC Tonight”.

VanZant, who trains out of Urijah Faber’s gym in Sacramento, has won four of her last five fights and has seen the judges just one time in her UFC career. Her latest win was a second-round switch-kick knockout of Bec Rawlings at UFC Fight Night Vancouver. At just 22 years old, VanZant is a budding star who has managed to work her way to eighth in the strawweight rankings.

Standing across the Octagon from VanZant on fight night will be former Invicta FC atomweight champion Michelle Waterson, who is eager to take the Octagon for just the second time after injuries forced her to the sidelines since her debut last July. Waterson earned a lopsided victory in her UFC debut against Angela Magana and hopes to prove she belongs in the strawweight top 10 with a win over VanZant.

UFC Fight Night in Sacramento is the last card of 2016 on FOX and is sandwiched between UFC 206 on Dec. 10 and UFC 207 on Dec. 30. The event will also feature a welterweight fight between Sage Northcutt and Mickey Gall.

[KillerCrushes]

You should re-title this thread.

I'm not yet convinced she can fight, but Paige is very attractive and I am convinced that she considers herself a fighter and wants to be good at it. Michelle Waterson is a legit fighter on top of being hot. I'm debating whether to get tickets to this one.

[stymie]

Angela Magana, who Michelle beat in her last fight, said she was suffering from an injury before the fight and took it only because she needed the money in her child custody fight. Valid excuse? Who knows...

[KillerCrushes]

A couple Michelle Waterson fights:

[Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register] (4 years ago, even then she appears more skilled than Paige is today)

[Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register] (if Angela was hurt, she does not really show it...good fight)

[stymie]

As usual, I like to share Frank Pozen's thought on the fight:

Paige VanZant vs Michelle Waterson to main event Dec. 17 UFC show

On last night's episode of UFC Tonight, UFC President Dana White announced that Paige VanZant vs Michelle Waterson will main event UFC on FOX 22 Dec. 17 at the Golden1 Center in Sacramento. This show will air on CTV2 in Canada. It's a home game for Paige as she trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento. The last time we saw Paige she did nothing for one round. Then she came out for the second round and knocked out Bec Rawlings with a switch kick to the head. A spectacular finish to be sure. But I don't think it helped Paige much. And afterwards, Bec told anyone who would listen "She still hasn't beaten anyone". And when Paige did fight a top fighter, she lost badly to Rose Namajunas. She was terrible in that first round against Bec. She was trying to do too much fancy stuff. And her corner told her to knock it off between rounds. So maybe that mainstream success on Dancing With The Stars is influencing her fighting. Of course Michelle is a veteran. She is a former Invicta Atomweight Champion. So she is undersized for a Strawweight and in the past she has had problems at 115. Also, Michelle sometimes fights this Greg Jackson light sparring style that results in boring fights. Michelle was supposed to fight Aisling Daly in September in Hamburg, Germany but both fighters got injured. Michelle broke her hand and posted the x-ray on Twitter. So this is a five round fight that could be a major league snoozer if both of them go the light sparring route. I sure hope not.

[stymie]

Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson preview UFC Sacramento main event (video from ABC 10 Sacramento)

[Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register]

[jiminy]

Thought I'd post this here instead of making a new thread.

A couple more UFC fights have been announced.



Felice Herrig will challenge herself as she takes on the unenviable task of facing Alexa Grasso on Feb. 4 in Houston.

Tecia Torres next fight will be against Bec Rawlings on the same card.

How do you like these fights?

Pretty much a gimme for Torres, I feel. She defeated Bec on TUF and I see Tecia getting the "W" by decision.

Herrig V Grasso is a more compelling match-up, although a lot of people will probably see it as a gimme for Grasso. In all likelihood the attractive young Mexican will Box Felice's ears for 3 rounds, but the "Lil' Bulldog" has the physical horsepower to ask some questions of her, particularly in the first round if she can take her down and test the ground game of Grasso.

[Ricoswrap]

With the announcement that the UFC will hold their first event ever in Buffalo this April I can't help hoping they will be featuring some of the ladies in at least one or two of the fights. If they do I will definitely be there.
My ultimate wish would be that Megan Anderson will make her UFC debut. But I know that is a long shot.

[brooksie]

Originally Posted by Ricoswrap [Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register]

With the announcement that the UFC will hold their first event ever in Buffalo this April I can't help hoping they will be featuring some of the ladies in at least one or two of the fights. If they do I will definitely be there.
My ultimate wish would be that Megan Anderson will make her UFC debut. But I know that is a long shot.

I expect they will be at least one female fight on the card. There usually is these days. It's very rare for a UFC card to feature only male bouts and, when they do, they're usually smaller, overseas shows.

In the meantime, they have the Feb. 4 card coming up that features three female fights. I'm not sure if this is a first but if not, it's rare to see that many WMMA bouts on a card. These aren't nothing fights either. Fast-rising prospect Alexa Grasso takes on fan favourite Felice Herrig, number one Straweight contender Jessica Andrade welcomes Invicta champ Angela Hill back to the UFC and Tecia Torres fights Bec Rawlings, both top ten in the 115 lb division.

Then there's Shevchnenko vs Pena this Saturday and, of course, Holly Holm vs Germain DeRandamie following, on Feb. 11. Lots of great female action coming up in the UFC over the next three weekends.

BTW Rico, did you see my answer post to your question about Tonya Evinger? If not, rematch is set for Invicta 22 in late March. Now to get the Missouri commission to overturn that atrocious Haga/Montenegro travesty, something every single comment I've seen has been in favour of. That one may have even been more egregious than the Evinger one. My MMA quote of the week is Celine Haga saying it was really strange standing there, waiting for my opponent to wake up so they could raise her hand.

[Ricoswrap]

Originally Posted by brooksie [Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register]

I expect they will be at least one female fight on the card. There usually is these days. It's very rare for a UFC card to feature only male bouts and, when they do, they're usually smaller, overseas shows.

In the meantime, they have the Feb. 4 card coming up that features three female fights. I'm not sure if this is a first but if not, it's rare to see that many WMMA bouts on a card. These aren't nothing fights either. Fast-rising prospect Alexa Grasso takes on fan favourite Felice Herrig, number one Straweight contender Jessica Andrade welcomes Invicta champ Angela Hill back to the UFC and Tecia Torres fights Bec Rawlings, both top ten in the 115 lb division.

Then there's Shevchnenko vs Pena this Saturday and, of course, Holly Holm vs Germain DeRandamie following, on Feb. 11. Lots of great female action coming up in the UFC over the next three weekends.

BTW Rico, did you see my answer post to your question about Tonya Evinger? If not, rematch is set for Invicta 22 in late March. Now to get the Missouri commission to overturn that atrocious Haga/Montenegro travesty, something every single comment I've seen has been in favour of. That one may have even been more egregious than the Evinger one. My MMA quote of the week is Celine Haga saying it was really strange standing there, waiting for my opponent to wake up so they could raise her hand.

Yes I did see your response and I am looking forward to the rematch. I always liked Tonya going way back to her two loses to Alexis Davis (another of my favorites) both by RNC. I was disappointed when Alexis lost to Sarah Mcmann.

I love Felice but I think she's in for a beating. I keep thinking how easily Paige Vanzandt handled Felice and I fear Alexa is much better than Paige.

Lastly I think Jessica Andrade is destined to be champion. Though I kind of hope not as I really love Joanna. She hits so damn hard.