UFC on FOX 22: VanZant vs. Waterson Discussion Thread

The fighters are weighed in and we're set for a solid lineup in Sacramento Saturday night. 

Prelims kick off on UFC Fight Pass at 330pm ET before switching to FS1 at 5pm. The FOX main card airs at 8pm. 

Not huge name value on this one, but a lot of closely-matched fights between exciting young prospects. 

Oh, and the final UFC fight of Urijah Faber as he takes on another vet in Brad Pickett.

* Edited at 12.16.2016, 1:57 PM ET *

Bonuses

POTN: Craig and Waterson

FOTN: Aldana vs Smith

50k each, as usual

@MikeyG Maybe the weigh-ins were a factor? Paige had to strip naked to make weight and looked pretty worn, whereas Waterson looked very fresh and hydrated.

@RussellMMA Bro, in the span of 13 minutes, you went from calling Waterson "so ******* cute" to a "******* *****" who (didn't) cheat on her husband. 

C'mon man. 

@mikey

I think it is a big ass lip piercing.

@RussellMMA no stupid duplicate accounts just to bash fighters, please.

What would lead you to believe she cheated on her husband you Stupid Idiot? 

@mikey, I don't think Paige had an off night, I just think Michelle is that much better than her at this point. Paige is very tough and works hard so she gets away with her deficiencies using that, but every time she met someone who's technically sound on the mat she got submitted (she got out of a lot of Rose's submission attempts because Rose jumped the gun and went for submission before position).

The fact that Paige is where she is and has beaten the girls she beat with all the holes in her game speaks volumes as to what kind of athlete she is. 

I also think that Alpha Male is a bad camp for her if she wants to really get a grasp on the fight game. You've got top athletes there who still to this day have zero idea on how to break down and opponent or understand what they're doing right or wrong. Bucholtz is a dude-bro who thinks he knows fighting and he's their gameplanning "mastermind". Faber, Mendes, Benavidez' games haven't changes in a million years doing the sport (they're very good at what they do but there's zero evolution there). 

I think Paige in the right camp could be great in 2-3 years, but given she's already at the top fighting the best I see her becoming a journeywoman who's consistently thrusted into situations she's not ready for.

Faber should give us at least one more fight, he looked really good last night. 

Beauty sells. She also has a name outside of MMA due to DWTS so they will push her as,much as they can.

Yeah, Paige did the stuff she usually does and everything Waterson did to get the RNC position was done extremely well. Paige really needs to get more technical in the standup & on the ground and almost every WMMA fighter should try head and arm throws less.

Also, pretty sure Waterson opening in that side-stance and throwing the side kick was tailored towards preventing Paige from closing distance and trying to make it a dog fight (which was what I feel Paige's only chance to win this fight).

Sometimes perfect gameplanning goes even better than expected.

I'm not entirely sure Michelle doesn't have better jitz than Rose. Rose is very aggressive with her submission attacks and Michelle is more methodical so it may look that way, but you have to remember Michelle's been doing this way longer than both of them. Just because Rose has a flying armbar on her record doesn't mean she's better. Michelle has submission wins on WAY higher level grapplers than Rose does and also, you yourself stated that Michelle took one go at doing what Rose tried to do for 5 rounds and could only finish after she battered Paige up and broke her. Tiburicio is a totally different matchup than Paige is (she has a better TD and much better top game and most importantly the knowhow to no get caught from the bottom or backmounted - or at least WAY more of it than Paige) and Magana was her debut. Also, reciting her losses (or hard wins) is only part of the Waterson story. Her wins over Tamada and Penne are way more substantial than ANY of Paige's wins and it's not even close and Michelle looked AMAZING in those fights. They were both at Atomweight, but Penne is a legit 115er (who would cream Paige on the mat - and I'm pretty sure that's a matchup we'll be seeing pretty soon since they're both coming off bad losses and are closely ranked).

But MMAth and their history aside, I just think that stylistically Michelle is perfectly fit to expose Paige while as Rose (who is also a stylistic nightmare for Paige) is a little less methodical than Michelle and jumped the gun a bit on a few of her submissions (also, you know how it is, different fight, different circumstances - I think Michelle taking her down and submitting her so soon was just because that situation sort of came so soon, I think it was bound to happen at some point, but I imagined it coming a bit later in the fight).

I'd pick Michelle to beat the current version of Paige every single time.

Jusy my opinion though, I just believe Paige has been blown out of proprtion. She's great, works hard, has heart and desire, probably a pretty nice upside to her, but at this point she's got too many holes for them not to show every time she takes a real step up (and so far, history backs up what I'm saying).

I see where you're coming from though and I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I personally disagree with you.

* Edited at 12.19.2016, 5:58 AM ET *

Yoss, of course she has been blown out of proportion: She is hot and that is what is important to many guys who watch her fight.

* Edited at 12.19.2016, 7:59 AM ET *