One of the UFC’s top female stars, “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant, picked up her fourth straight victory in a featured strawweight fight tonight at UFC 191: “Johnson vs Dodson 2” in Las Vegas, Nevada. VanZant dominated TUF 20’s Alex “Astro Girl” Chambers en route to a third-round submission win.
VanZant was in complete control of tonight’s bout from start to finish and she overwhelmed Chambers with strikes that ultimately set up the finish. In bantamweight action, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington avenged a past loss by submitting Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade on the preliminary card.
VanZant (6-1-0) kicked off tonight’s pay-per-view main card with a dominant performance against a vastly outmatched Chambers (5-3-0), who was never able to get anything going. VanZant kept her pinned against the cage throughout the first two rounds and she repeatedly scored with knees to the body and punches over the top. Chambers attempted a guillotine choke late in round one, and VanZant threatened with a rear-naked choke in the middle stanza, but most of the action took place in the clinch and VanZant dropped Chambers shortly before the bell sounded to end round two.
As the final round began, Chambers wilted under the pressure from VanZant, who pressed forward with a right hook and a knee. Chambers dropped levels and VanZant took advantage by trapping her in a rear-naked choke. Chambers escaped from the choke, but VanZant transitioned to a quick armbar that forced Chambers to frantically tap out.
While she feels that she is still two years away from a title shot, VanZant’s winning streak and soaring popularity may lead UFC matchmakers to position her as a championship contender in the near future. However, though her performance tonight was a dominant one, it reinforced that VanZant has a long way to go before she is ready to challenge UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk, who is coming off of destructive wins over Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza and Jessica Penne.
Winner: Paige VanZant by Submission (Armbar) at 1:01 of round three. She improves to 6-1-0.
After dropping a razor-thin Split Decision at UFC 171, Pennington (6-5-0) avenged her past loss tonight by submitting Andrade (13-5-0) in the second round of an entertaining back-and-forth fight.
Andrade was very aggressive in round one and she landed a solid combination in the opening seconds. She hopped on Pennington’s back after slamming her down to the canvas, but Pennington escaped to her feet. Andrade scored with punches and standing elbows, which led to an exchange of knees in the clinch, and Andrade took Pennington back down two more times before the bell.
The second round began with both women landing power punches and Andrade mixed in effective kicks to Pennington’s legs. Pennington took her down, but immediately had to fend off a guillotine choke. Andrade stood and caused Pennington’s right eye to swell up by landing a knee and a left hook, and she pulled guard with another guillotine choke. However, Pennington stayed calm and escaped, and she locked on a rear-naked choke as Andrade tried to get back to her feet. Andrade had nowhere to go and she reluctantly tapped out with just two seconds remaining in the round.
Tonight’s victory was a crucial one for Pennington, who has set her sights on avenging both of her close UFC defeats. She evened the score with Andrade tonight and next hopes to avenge her competitive Split Decision loss to upcoming UFC title challenger Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm.
Winner: Raquel Pennington by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:58 of round two. She improves to 6-5-0.
(Photo Credit: UFC)