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Rose Namajunas dooms Paige VanZant to familiar fall at UFC Fight Night 80

Upset occurs in headliner of fight weekend’s first event

Rose Namajunas Wins

L.E. Baskow

Women’s Strawweight fighter Rose Namajunas connects to the head of Paige VanZant during the UFC Fight Night 80 at The Chelsea in the Cosmopolitan on Thursday, December 10, 2015.

UFC Fight Night 80 at Chelsea

Women's Strawweight fighter Rose Namajunas connects to the head of Paige VanZant during the UFC Fight Night 80 at The Chelsea in the Cosmopolitan on Thursday, December 10, 2015. Launch slideshow »

The Ronda Rousey comparisons can uncomfortably continue for Paige VanZant.

Fans have linked the 21-year-old strawweight to the mixed martial arts pioneer ever since she showed up in the UFC, and now her first loss in the octagon comes less than a month after Rousey’s stunning defeat.

Rose Namajunas pulled the upset of VanZant in the first of three straight nights of fight cards, winning via submission at 2:25 of the fifth round in the main event of UFC Fight Night 80 at the Cosmopolitan’s Chelsea theater.

“I got outclassed in every way,” VanZant said as tears swelled out of her eyelids.

VanZant may have lasted three rounds longer with Namajunas than Rousey managed against Holly Holm, but the fight was every bit as noncompetitive. Namajunas connected with VanZant’s face on a straight right-to-left hook combination within seconds of the opening bell.

She then scored a takedown, and elbowed VanZant to open a cut below her right eye that would cover both of them in blood for the next 22 minutes.

“I got rocked pretty bad,” VanZant said. “It’s just technique. I’m new, got to get my technique better.”

The 23-year-old Namajunas commiserates all too well with the dejection. She ironically came into the first-ever 115-pound title fight almost exactly a year ago favored against Carla Esparza with UFC President Dana White implying she was the “next Ronda Rousey.”

Namajunas hardly had a single positive moment in a fight where Esparza submitted her in the third round. Namajunas refocused after the loss and vowed that she would make the upcoming year belong to her.

She ends 2015 on a two-fight winning streak queued only behind Claudia Gadelha for the next title shot against current champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

“The list is endless with the transformation that I went through,” Namajunas said. “But the main thing is, I’ve just been focusing on me.”

White envisions VanZant similarly using a disappointing experience to her advantage in the end.

“I told her tonight, ‘You’ll learn more from this loss than you will from all your wins in the past,’” White said.

White also praised the toughness VanZant exhibited in the fight. The crowd gave VanZant an ovation on three occasions after she swept her way out of deep submission attempts.

Namajunas twice contorted VanZant’s limbs with arm bars and almost choked her out once before finally forcing a tap out with a rear-naked choke. VanZant only took a short time to get her face stitched up before she appeared at the post-fight press conference to speak with the media.

That’s one difference from Rousey, who slinked out of the arena after her defeat and hasn’t spoken publicly since.

“I’m sad but I’m fine,” VanZant said. “I just wasn’t prepared for that fight.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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