Big Bad Blog Video Theater-Rose Namajunas vs Paige VanZant

Here's the match video of Rose Namajunas vs Paige VanZant from last night's UFC show in Las Vegas. This aired on UFC Fight Pass but I watched it on The Fight Network in Canada. It was the main event so it was scheduled for five rounds. Joanne Calderwood was supposed to be Paige's opponent but she backed out with a knee injury and she was replaced by Rose Namajunas who I thought would be a tougher opponent for Paige. Since Rose lost in the TUF 20 finale, she has moved to Colorado and it seems that her new trainer Trevor Wittman has calmed her down. This was evident in her last fight when she beat Angela Hill. Though she was coming in with a shorter than usual training camp, I didn't see that as a big issue because she was going to be booked pretty soon anyway. Paige has had a lot of hype but Rose was a big step up in competition. If she beats Rose than I'm sold on Paige. But though Paige was the betting favourite, I expected Rose to win. I think she is a more accomplished fighter. So I was not surprised when Rose took immediate control of the fight. An elbow from top position busted Paige open and that was the beginning of the end of the fight. Rose was patient. She didn't try to force a finish. And a lot of the credit for that patience has to go to Wittman. Paige escaped several submissions including a couple of armbars. But Rose finally finished her with a rear naked choke in round five. I was really impressed with Rose's poise. She didn't get frustrated. She just followed her game plan. I don't expect her to get an immediate title shot. Claudia Gadelha will get that. But Rose might want another shot at Tecia Torres who beat Rose in Invicta. As for Paige, she has to go back to the drawing board. I thought she was overhyped and all it took was a higher level of competition to expose her lack of technique. She is young and she showed a lot of toughness. But she can't hang with high level fighters yet. I almost forgot. Rose won a $50,000 bonus. Enjoy the video.