Paige VanZant Wouldn't Leave Her Hotel Room After Rose Namajunas Loss

Paige VanZant Wouldn't Leave Her Hotel Room After Rose Namajunas Loss

Paige VanZant recalls struggling with the loss to Rose Namajunas but has bounced and is ready for Bec Rawlings.

Aug 25, 2016 by Jim Edwards
Paige VanZant Wouldn't Leave Her Hotel Room After Rose Namajunas Loss
After more than eight months away from the Octagon, Paige VanZant returns this weekend in Vancouver, Canada where she takes on Bec Rawlings at UFC Fight Night 93.

Having taken an extended amount of time away from the Octagon, and out of the MMA bubble, the longtime Team Alpha Male team member is looking forward to getting back under the UFC spotlight.

"I feel great going into it and I think this is a great matchup for me," VanZant told the UFC Unfiltered podcast this week. "I'm really excited to get back in the Octagon especially after coming off 'Dancing With The Stars.' It's perfect timing."

VanZant was last seen in December when she headlined a UFC Fight Night Las Vegas card against Rose Namajunas. That evening, VanZant was convincingly beaten and submitted in the final round after a prolonged drubbing. While defeat hurt at the time, VanZant says she was able to learn a lot from the experience.

"I took away a lot. I went in there and didn't get the win," VanZant said. "Obviously, I learned a lot and now I've moved on and moved forward and tried to get everything better. 

"I do think I'm well-rounded so I also think I have to work on absolutely every area of my game. I worked on everything that I could and I feel good now going into this fight."

After her bout with Namajunas, VanZant was noticeably upset in the press conference, and struggled to fight back the tears as she took questions from the press. VanZant recalled how she originally reacted badly to the defeat, but then managed to push through and move on.

"It sucked and originally I was super bummed out and I wouldn't leave my hotel room after the fight," VanZant said. But, then you just got to suck it up and move on. I've been through so many hard things in my life and a loss in the UFC probably isn't the hardest thing I've ever going to go through. I said to myself that I'm still fighting in the UFC and that I need to move on." 

After her loss, VanZant's star rose in the mainstream media after featuring on this year's 'Dancing For The Stars' show. VanZant did extremely well on the show coming in second place. Since then, VanZant revealed that she's received multiple acting opportunities, and said that she would be interested in pursuing and balancing them with her fighting career. 

"I would love to," VanZant said in response to whether she would like to take up acting. "It's something I really think I would be able to balance with fighting. We do have somewhat of an off season as we have so much time between fights so I would love to be able to continue to balance all these outside opportunities."