Paige VanZant made her return to the octagon late Sunday night against Jessica-Rose Clark, and it just wasn’t her night to get a win.
As everybody knows, I’ve been huge on the VanZant bandwagon. In fact, I think there’s a strong argument to be made that we’re the most pro-VanZant publication in existence. Last night was like the Super Bowl for fans of “12 Gauge” everywhere.
We waited over a year for VanZant to return to cracking skulls in the octagon. Unfortunately, Sunday just wasn’t her night. She suffered a broken right arm very early in the fight, and it was all down hill from there.
Dang, Paige VanZant appeared to break her arm on a spinning backfist in the first round. #UFCSTL pic.twitter.com/QevFZLZa6m
— Josh Sánchez (@jnsanchez) January 15, 2018
Paige VanZant says she broke her right arm in the first round. Immediately grabs it in pain after the final bell. #UFCSTL pic.twitter.com/L8GhHvUPpt
— Josh Sánchez (@jnsanchez) January 15, 2018
Obviously last night didn’t go the way most of us were hoping it would. A VanZant win would have likely cemented herself at the top of the women’s UFC world. I have no idea what happens now that she lost.
Hopefully she fights again. Going out because of a loss due to a broken arm just doesn’t do her justice. Maybe this is just the setup for a major comeback.
She might also decide she’s had enough of the fighting game and move on. There’s nothing wrong with that option for her either. She’s earned the right to decide for herself what she wants to do. Personally, I’d like to see her give it a go at least once more before hanging it up.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.