Paige VanZant deserves top marks for the bravery shown in her defeat on Sunday night.
VanZant suffered consecutive losses for the first time in her career after falling to a unanimous decision defeat to Jessica-Rose Clark at UFC St. Louis.
In her flyweight debut, ’12 Gauge’ lasted all three rounds despite the fact that she broke her arm early on.
VanZant’s attempted spinning backfist is what reportedly caused the injury to her right arm, which would have persuaded lesser fighters to quit.
That noise! 😱
Was this the moment @PaigeVanzantUFC broke her wrist at #UFCSTL? pic.twitter.com/zCBjumOxj9
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) January 15, 2018
Visibly uncomfortable with her right forearm in between rounds, VanZant continued to battle on and proved her heart yet again.
The 23-year-old was transported to hospital immediately and is recovering, but appeared in good spirits with her update.
https://twitter.com/PaigeVanzantUFC/status/952785685827719170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloodyelbow.com%2F2018%2F1%2F15%2F16892184%2Fufc-st-louis-paige-vanzant-broken-arm-spinning-backfist-jessica-rose-clark-flyweight-womens-mma-news
“I broke my arm in the first! I was able to finish the fight but as you can see, had a hard [time] recovering and throwing my right. I’ll be back better and stronger than ever!” she wrote.
VanZant has now lost three of her last four fights, bringing her MMA record to 7-4.
It remains unknown whether the defeat at 125lbs will convince VanZant to return to her old stomping ground of strawweight or if she will persevere in the UFC’s newest weight class.
The toughness displayed by the Team Alpha Male fighter has been applauded by several top figures in the MMA community.
Much respect to @PaigeVanzantUFC for fighting the rest of that fight with a broken arm!!! pic.twitter.com/gyW1QE9Tbg
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 15, 2018
Warrior https://t.co/Zi7XgH0w1D
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) January 15, 2018
