After Michelle Waterson described Paige VanZant as “very green”, the Team Alpha Male strawweight has fired back just days out from headlining Saturday night’s UFC on Fox 22 card form Sacramento Golden 1 Center.
You don’t normally associate VanZant as a fighter who engages in a war of words. And although she’s not about to start now she did have a rebuttal for ‘The Karate Hottie’ when she made an appearance on this week’s episode of ‘The MMA Hour’.
“Everyone thinks I’m super green, but I’m not,” VanZant said. “I have confidence in my skill and I know I’ve worked hard for this fight, so I’m excited to go in there and show my athletic capabilities. I have skills that I showed in my last fight, my athletic capabilities, with that awesome head kick knockout, so I’m ready to go in there and show a little more fireworks.”
VanZant was just starting her career when Waterson was already a champion, but claims she’s had the ability to learn quick and mentions certain attributes she doesn’t see in her opponent.
“It is funny. When I first started fighting, Michelle Waterson and Felice Herrig and all these girls, they had already held belts in the division. You know, I understand people think I’m green, or think I’m new to the sport. But I’m a high-level athlete and I learn very, very quickly. I have a high level of tenacity and that gets me a lot of victories and not a lot of people have that.”
It’s going to be a bittersweet moment for VanZant. Aside from headlining the card it will be the final fight for her Team Alpha Male teammate Urijah Faber, takes on Brit banger Brad Picket.
“It feels amazing just having Urijah on this fight card,” VanZant added. “He’s passing the torch to us. He’s been very influential for every single fight. This is his last fight in the UFC. He’s still influential to me in my fight career. There’s no added pressure, but it’s a moment I’m never going to forget. It’s a big deal.”
