Like Rousey, UFC strawweight VanZant has ‘wow’ factor

Both are attractive blondes with a whole lot of ability inside the cage.

But UFC president Dana White pointed out the similarity between VanZant and another superstar after VanZant’s impressive strawweight victory over Felice Herrig on Saturday in Newark, N.J., before a national TV audience on Fox.

“It’s almost like the Conor McGregor thing,” White said at the postfight news conference of VanZant’s soaring popularity. “The guy bursts out of nowhere, explodes onto the scene and backs it up. And Paige VanZant did tonight, too. She looked unbelievable. And she is. She’s one of those people that has that thing.”

VanZant, a 21-year-old Reno native, improved to 2-0 in the UFC with the convincing unanimous decision and had the mixed martial arts world buzzing.

“Everybody in my dressing room tonight wanted to meet her, so we brought her back,” White said. “She’s got that thing that I always talk about that you just can’t teach.

“And she can fight.”

That will be the key to her staying power in the burgeoning 115-pound women’s division.

VanZant said her goal Saturday was to go out and prove that she’s more than hype. Now, bigger challenges await.

White was noncommittal about how high VanZant propelled herself in the rankings with the victory, but acknowledged she is on the fast track to title contention. While Rousey has ruled the 135-pound class since it was introduced in early 2013, Joanna Jedrzejczyk won the 115-pound belt last month in the second-ever title fight in the division.

“Of course I’m gonna take any fight that’s offered to me,” VanZant said. “But with all the strawweights coming up and with the ranking system being so new, I think we will see a little more accurate ranking of who’s available in the title shot.

“I have a lot more to prove, and we’ll go from there.”

Whoever she fights next, VanZant is going to enjoy the experience.

“It’s like my birthday every time I get to walk out to that cage,” she said. “This is what I love to do.”

■ MIDDLEWEIGHT PICTURE UNCLEAR — Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza made pretty strong cases to be the next challenger for the UFC middleweight title after Chris Weidman defends it against Vitor Belfort next month.

White raved about the performance of both fighters after they each recorded early submission victories Saturday, but said no decision has been made regarding their futures.

“We’re in a position right now where we’ve got two guys who looked unbelievable who could fight next for the title. It’s a good problem to have,” White said. “We’ll see how this thing plays out, we’ll see how Vitor vs. Weidman goes, and we’ll make a decision.”

■ NEW SEASON OF TUF DEBUTS — Season 21 of “The Ultimate Fighter” will debut at 10 p.m. Wednesday on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329).

The show moved away from Las Vegas for this season. Instead, the tournament will pit fighters from “The Blackzilians” against a group from American Top Team, two rival gyms in South Florida.

■ JOHNSON HEADLINES UFC 186 — Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will defend the belt against Kyoji Horiguchi on Saturday in the main event of UFC 186 in Montreal.

Johnson, the only flyweight champion in UFC history since the belt was created in 2012, has successfully defended the title five times and won seven straight fights.

Horiguchi is 15-1 in his career and 4-0 since signing with the UFC.

A middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and C.B. Dollaway also is scheduled.

The main card airs on pay per view at 7 p.m. Four fights from the preliminary card will air live on Fox Sports 1 at 5.

■ DAVIS TO BELLATOR — Light heavyweight Phil Davis appeared on “The MMA Hour” radio show Monday to discuss his decision to leave the UFC in favor of a free-agent deal with Bellator MMA.

“Moving to Bellator is not an opportunity where you say I’m disappointed in anything,” Davis said. “If I was working for FedEx, and UPS offered me a better job, then you go to UPS. The only thing that brings up hurt feelings is I have a lot of friends and family that work for the UFC, the people of the organization that I won’t be able to see on a regular basis. That’s simply it. There’s no hurt feelings any other way. That’s one of the things that happen in life, ya know?”

Davis, a former NCAA champion wrestler at Penn State, went 9-3 with one no-contest in the UFC. The 30-year-old said he was offered a contract extension before he fought Ryan Bader in January but turned it down, hoping to increase his value with a win. Instead, he lost a split decision and some of his leverage in the negotiation process.

“I have nothing but gratitude for those guys,” Davis said of the UFC. “I would have liked to sign the big contract and stay with the UFC, sure. That was my first option. But as more options became available, I went with other options. It’s hard to look at it emotionally. I’m entirely looking at it as a business move.”.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.