Is Namajunas the Best and Final Test for VanZant?

With Paige Vanzant and Rose Namajunas set to settle a division shaking fight on at UFC Fight Night 80, the two seemed to have been on a crash course for a while or maybe ever since the strawweight division actually got started. Rose Namajunas generated a name for herself going through the TUF House and actually being the fighter fans were pushing for and hyping over Carla Esparza. And eventually Esparza was the winner of their TUF finale claiming the strawweight belt probably to the dismay of many fan and UFC brass alike. Namajunas was supposed to be the “It” girl for the UFC strawweight which makes this main card fight that much more interesting as Paige Vanzant even without going through the TUF house or having any previous accolades became the UFC golden girl and the heavily promoted social media darling effectively replacing Namajunas. But can Namajunas really be angry as Vanzant has demolished all her UFC competitors so far and even her fight with Herrig being almost so one sided it seemed the commentators were wondering if it was going to be stopped. With Vanzants nonstop and explosive form of violence, skill, and beauty it’s hard to not take notice of a woman fighter who has both beauty and skill aside from Ronda Rousey herself.

Let’s be clear here, Namajunas is no slouch either as she has a straight forward and nonstop pace as well, but in this matchup Vanzant on the feet has the clear advantage on paper in terms of that crazy striking output which nearly doubles Namajunas’. Namajunas is going to have a hard time dealing with that type of pressure as she has been known to falter under extreme amounts of pressure which was both displayed by Carla Esparza and Tecia Torres, both fighters who she has lost to. Her seemingly slight advantage in this fight might be her brazilian jiu jitsu skills which poses alot of problems for anyone who manages to go to the ground with her, but then again Vanzant has been known for her offensive TD and ground and pound which we and many other MMA fans are sure is going to be a big factor in this fight. With trainers like Urijah Faber, Mendes, and Benavidez just to name a few and teammates like Cody Garbandt, Aljamain Sterling, and Lance Palmer, Vanzant has been assumed to have way more ground skills than she has been able to show.

Even with this fight being a division moving fight that it is, there are still other fighters to consider in the strawweight division that might make getting a title shot a bit tough for both Namajunas and Vanzant even with a win. One of those people that fits that category is Tecia Torres who remains unbeaten in her amateur and professional MMA career beating both Vanzant and Namajunas each in Invicta FC. Which if most MMA fans look around, those type of numbers usually means she definitely has championship qualifying skills here, maybe even enough to bea current strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk who was seemingly unbeatable, but showed some gaps in her fight at UFC 193 with Valerie Letourneau. Not only is there Torres to give Vanzant and Namajunas a bit of an challenge to the title, but then there is also Claudia Gadelha who was supposed to challenge Jedrzejcyzk at UFC 193, but pulled out due to an injury. But an injury that will take less than 3-4 months to heal and be almost directly in correlation to the amount of time it will take the “Joanna Champion” to heal as well. With any one of these fighters between Vanzant, Namajunas, or Torres in the case she wins with a statement that makes people and the UFC brass notice there seems to be more chance for a title elimination match than a fight for the title with all these fighters ready to make a statement other than Vanzant grabbing the spotlight that is.