Don't count UFC strawweight Paige VanZant among those who were openly rooting against CM Punk in his mixed martial arts debut debut this past Saturday.

CM Punk, real name Phil Brooks, most recently made the walk to the Octagon to challenge 19-year-old welterweight prospect Mickey Gall at UFC 203. The Chicago native go onto would last a little over two minutes before Gall choked him out with a tight rear naked choke.

While a majority of fans, pundits and fighters celebrated at seeing the former professional wrestler fail miserably after essentially skipping the line and diving right into the deep end, VanZant actually offered constructive criticism to Brooks.

"He definitely, I mean, he's pretty old," VanZant told TMZSports. "I love CM Punk. I wanted him to do well. I don't know, I just think he's a little too old for it. He came out there a little too aggressive and confident. You just can't teach jiu-jitsu in two years."


VanZant (7-2), who rose to prominence during the most recent season of Dancing With The Star, is coming off head kick knockout victory over Bec Rawlings at UFC on FOX 21 last month. This got the Team Alpha Male product back into win column after being decimated by top contender Rose Namajunas in their main event fight last December.

When pressed if she realistically believed CM Punk would ever find success in the sport of MMA, "12 Gauge" offered a few words of encouragement.

"He definitely has a chance [of winning another fight]," VanZant said. "There's definitely people out there I think he would do better against. Somebody that doesn't have such a high level of jiu-jitsu. So I would love to see him fight again. He's definitely persistent and he's still an athlete.

"The biggest thing is everyone complained about him being in the UFC but it's an entertainment industry. CM Punk is an entertainer and he puts on a show and he brought a lot of fans over to the UFC and ultimately more fans of the UFC means more money for the rest of us."