UFC Is Reportedly Grooming Paige VanZant To Become New Face — Is Ronda Rousey On Her Way Out?

The MMA community, especially the UFC fans, are abuzz for Paige VanZant ever since she made her debut as the promotion’s youngest star. In the Octagon, VanZant claims she has a “mental edge” over her opponents, a tactic that recently gained her a win against Felice Herrig in a brutal battle at UFC on Fox: Machida vs. Rockhold. Outside of the Octagon, Paige VanZant is a woman with many interests ranging from her dancing in ballet, jazz, and hip hop to hitting the outdoors to fish and hunt.

All in all, Paige VanZant seems to be the total package. As a matter of fact, there is a recent report pondering if UFC is grooming her to become the new face of the promotion. If the rumor is true, does that mean Ronda Rousey is getting close to being on her way out?

The investigative report was done by Fan Share, in which they analyzed Paige VanZant’s career in MMA up to where she stands now in UFC. As mentioned earlier, VanZant is the youngest star to join UFC, but she officially started her amateur career when she was just 18, which was short-lived. Reportedly, VanZant signed on with Invicta FC right after her first and only amateur fight. Since then, Paige VanZant has competed in six professional fights, losing only one. Two of those fights are in the UFC.

The aforementioned accolades, along with her gorgeous looks and amazing personality, seem to make Paige VanZant a fit to replace the current female face of UFC, Ronda Rousey. At this moment, however, she is nowhere near doing that to “the most dominant athlete alive today.” MMAjunkie got an exclusive with VanZant in which she herself admits is still too green and doesn’t want to be in over her head. Instead, Paige VanZant is trusting UFC to make the right decisions for her career.

“Would you tell the UFC, ‘No?’ I’m going to trust the UFC, and whatever they say, I’m going to go with. I think that obviously they want to see the best for all of their athletes. I’m just going to continue to grow, and you guys haven’t seen my best yet. I’m going to continue to grow for a very long time.”

Fortunately for Paige VanZant, key people in UFC agree with her greenness too. UFC president Dana White is the most important figure to back VanZant, admitting in an interview that she still has much work to do before even considering entering the Octagon against one of the top five fighters in her division. Currently, Paige VanZant is number eight in the women’s strawweight division. That is still a ways to even be considered for title elimination fights.

As for Ronda Rousey being on her way out? Rest assured that will not happen anytime soon. Rousey signed a new deal back in March and is locked into UFC for a number of years.

[Featured Image via Paige VanZant’s Official Facebook Page, Post Image via Alex Tautwig/Getty]