There is no denying the hype that is currently surrounding “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant. Having improved her record to 3-0 in the Octagon recently, the American strawweight has climbed to number six in the division’s top 15 rankings.
Ranked at number 15, Aisling Daly has gone 2-1 so far with the promotion. When the NAAFS champion saw VanZant taking a third round win over Alex Chambers at UFC 191, she reacted quickly as UFC tweeted about how fast VanZant’s transition to the armbar finish had been.
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“2 rounds slower than I did though BOOM,” Daly humorously replied, having submitted the Australian with an armbar of her own in the dying embers of the first round of their December bout. Appearing at a special screening of the premiere of TUF 22 in Dublin last week, ‘Ais the Bash’ claimed that she would have no problem facing off against VanZant due to the hype surrounding her, even though she doesn’t believe a victory over the young Team Alpha Male fighter would bolster her stock with UFC.
“Paige VanZant might be a nothing fight for me,” considered Daly. “She’s very inexperienced, she’s quite sloppy and she doesn’t seem to be very technical. She is very gritty, she’s tough and she brings a lot of pace to the Octagon, but when I look at her, her ability is similar to where I was at ten fights ago and even then I had better jiu jitsu.
“Solely for the publicity that seems to surround her, I would take that fight if it came my way. At the same time, I don’t think I would be improving my standing within the organization if I did that. She’s definitely being protected.”
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Daly doesn’t seem to be too surprised that she is currently ranked below VanZant, insisting that your place in the table is not only based on your skill set and record, but a fighter’s marketability too. However, the Dubliner is very confident that it would take no longer than one round for her to prove that she is a better fighter than the 21-year-old.
“I try not to think too much about the rankings because I understand the game now, I understand the business. Maybe a couple of years ago I would have been naïve enough to think that just because you’re the best you would be at the top of the pile. That just doesn’t exist anymore. You’re marketability, how you sell out stadiums – that’s what is important. Of course if UFC asked me, I’d love to fight Paige VanZant. I think it’s an easy fight for me. Her jiu jitsu is so sloppy, I think I would finish her in a round,” outlined Daly.
The SBG fighter further explained why she thinks UFC would be reluctant to match her with VanZant. Having trained with Felice Herrig during the recording of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Daly is convinced that she could easily finish the TAM proponent. According to ‘Ais the Bash’, as far as Herrig’s grappling skills are concerned she “wouldn’t give her a strip on a white belt”, and had she been in some of the positions that her fellow TUF cast member had been in against VanZant she is adamant that she would have forced a tap from the fledgling talent.
Daly also highlighted that should the UFC give her a “protected pathway” to a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, VanZant will take “a serious beating” having no prepared herself for the champion with bouts against strong opposition.
“UFC probably wouldn’t do it though, they would have to look at that matchup and think that it’s too risky for Paige. Even watching her fight with Felice Herrig, there were some dodgy positions that she was in. Having trained with Felice, I wouldn’t give her a strip on a white belt, I know that I could have finished Paige in the same situation,” said the BJJ brown belt.
“If she was in them positions against someone with grappling skills, there are literally so many positions where she could’ve been finished with footlocks and armlocks. Those things are my bread and butter and it would take me seconds to lock them up so why would they put my in there with her? It wouldn’t make sense for the business.
“Paige’s thing seems to out-pacing people, but she couldn’t do that to me because I never get tired. She probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with my pace. She has nothing on her shots, it took her three rounds to wear Alex down and she had blown her knee out in the second round. All signs point to it being a bad match for Paige and because of that I doubt it will ever happen.
“She’s talking about not fighting for the belt in two years. If UFC plans on giving her a protected pathway to the belt while they continue to rank her so highly, she’s definitely going to take a serious beating off Joanna like everyone else.”
