Fresh off of her second-place finish on Dancing With The Stars, popular strawweight star “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant steps back into the Octagon on August 27th at UFC on FOX 21 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. VanZant is set to face “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings in a featured matchup.
VanZant announced the fight today on ESPN SportsCenter. The 22-year-old had her four-fight winning streak snapped in December when she was submitted by “Thug” Rose Namajunas in the UFC Fight Night 80 headliner. Rawlings is coming off of a contentious decision win over Seo Hee Ham.
VanZant (6-2-0) enjoyed a rapid rise to stardom after signing with the UFC in 2014. She first earned a thrilling third-round TKO victory over Kailin Curran in her Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 57 and scored her biggest win to date by dominating veteran Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig at UFC on FOX 15. In September, VanZant cruised to a third-round finish of Alex “Astro Girl” Chambers at UFC 191, which set up a main event bout against short-notice replacement Namajunas in December. However, Namajunas proved to be too much for VanZant and she finished the fight with a fifth-round rear-naked choke.
Rawlings (7-4-0) also joined the UFC roster in 2014 and took part in The Ultimate Fighter 20, where she was portrayed as a villain and drew the ire of many fans. After being eliminated early in the competition, Rawlings developed rivalries with castmates including “Hurricane” Heather Clark, who overcame a torn ACL and defeated Rawlings at the TUF 20 Finale. Rawlings notched her first official UFC win in May 2015 when she destroyed Lisa Ellis, and she made it two in a row in March by edging out Ham in a fight that was much closer than two official scorecards suggested.
UFC on FOX 21 takes place on August 27th at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
(Photo Credit: UFC)