VanZant vs. Waterson

This is the official discussion thread for VanZant vs. Waterson. Let's see what you've got.

Five-rounder. Could definitely be a fun one. Hopefully Waterson stays healthy.

Sexiest fight ever!

Iirc Waterson's wrestling is pretty **** despite being slick on the ground.VanZant imo should be too strong against the cage,in the clinch,in top position,pace,too big etc. for the former 105'er.I don't say that too big thing just cause Waterson is a former atomweight she just doesn't have the natural frame to move up and fit in the division just fine like some can.With that said VanZant fought like an idiot in her last fight so she'll probably just stand with Michelle and get outclassed.I wouldn't actually bet on that,but it's a decent possibility.She needs to go back to what works for her.I don't care much for this fight and i'm surprised it's a headliner (sorta) ,coupled with Sage vs Gall as the co main it's just kinda funny,but whatever.

IMO Waterson has the better submission game and smoother striking. Van Zant won't out-cardio her either. Van Zan may have a wrestling edge but I am calling for an upset

@Kuma, I don't see it that way mate. For some reason people keep forgetting just how unpolished Paige is both on the feet and on the mat and are surprised at how badly she loses to top competition (I blame the UFC's marketing machine for that).

She uses superior cardio and grit to outwork lower level girls but I think Michelle will expose her and tag her up on the feet and if it does get to the mat (which it may very well do since as you stated, Michelle doesn't exactly have heavenly TDD) I think Page gets her arm or back taken pretty fast. She makes novice mistakes there that any girl with a decent ground game will capitalize on. Michelle's grappling is leagues above Paige's and the only time I saw Waterson have a hard time working off her back before was against Tiburcio and Paige isn't close to being on her level on the mat. Michelle has survived the ground games of Penne and Tamada so I don't see Paige's subpar, from a technical stand point, ground game will be a fight decider. Not saying Paige won't get her down or even win a round or two from top control (I doubt it, but I can see it happening), but I don't think that's where Paige wins this. Paige is stronger, but she's so far behind technically that I don't think it'll make such a difference.

Now add all that to the fact that Paige thinks she's a great striker after the Bec fight and she may actually believe she can trade on the feet with Michelle, which lowers her chances substantially (she wasn't doing well at all against Bec, but chose to keep trading with her and got lucky with the kick, if she does that against Michelle, she gets creamed).

The only way I see Paige winning this is if she manages to put a LOT of pressure on Michelle without getting caught by something and takes over in the championship rounds. I doubt she'll do that though because I think she's going to get hit with a lot of gas-draining and frustration building combinations and Michelle mixes it up beautifully (her offensive wrestling isn't as bad as her defensive wrestling).

I see this fight ending with a 3rd or 4th round TKO or sub and that's only because I'm giving Paige's toughness and grit a whole lot of credit.

* Edited at 10.13.2016, 4:23 AM ET *

Hottest fight ever.

Nope

Karate Hottie gonna murder her

This is the most awesome fight ever :)

very nice fght

This fight is nice 

It all depends on how KH has been recovering from her injury.

Paige was getting absolutely "WAXED" in her last fight.. she threw a kick that landed and here we are... Relatively nothing new about Paige really.

BWAAAAAHHAAAAAHAAAAHAAA. 

How the HELL is Paige Vanzant being picked over the Karate Hottie?

This is the SAME damn thing that happened when she fought Rose and was the betting favorite.

I was telling anybody who listened that Rose would mope the floor with this girl and nobody would listen.

I won a ****-ton of money on that fight betting on Rose.

Lets review:

Paige was getting handily beat in her last fight against Bec Rawlings until she landed a lucky kick

Before that, she got utterly destroyed in every phase by Rose Namajunas.

Michelle, on the other hand, dominated Magana almost completely before submitting her.   On the ground, on the feet, with wrestling, etc.

Before that,  Michelle lost a championship fight, but only after she had a weight cut that almost killed her and she put up a Fight of the Year performance and many people had her winning the first couple of rounds.

Michelle is going to make this look easy.  EASY.

Ya you are SERIOUSLY smoking some GRADE A  quality stuff to even try and make that argument..LMAO

I could see this going either way.  Waterson has been out for awhile so lets see if that does anything.

Waterson takes this. She's just all around better than PVZ.