Women MMA fighters headline UFC Sacramento
THE Ultimate Fighting Championship heads to Sacramento, California, this weekend with women mixed martial arts fighters as headliners.
Dubbed “UFC on Fox 22,” the event at the newly built Golden 1 Center will see top women’s strawweight fighters Paige “12 Gauge” VanZant (No. 8) and Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (No. 12) go at it in the main event.
Ms. VanZant (7-2-0) is coming off a second-round knockout win over Bec Rawlings in August and is looking to start another win streak in the UFC.
Prior to her win over Ms. Rawlings, 22-year- old VanZant was riding a three-fight UFC winning streak before Rose Namajunas submitted her in the fifth round of their fight in December last year.
Looking to halt Ms. Vanzant is compatriot Waterson ( 13- 4), herself angling for back-to-back wins.
Made her return to strawweight after spending time as an atomweight, 30-year-old Waterson beat Angela Magana in her previous fight in July of 2015 by submission (rear-naked choke) in the third round.
While her opponent is coming off a long layoff, Ms. VanZant is expecting a tough fight from Ms. Waterson and is excited about it.
“Sac Town!!!! It’s War Time!!! Let’s do this!!!!” she proclaimed on her official Twitter account when news of their fight was first announced in October.
Meanwhile, serving as co-main event at UFC on Fox 22 is the welterweight clash of Sage “Super” Northcutt against Mickey Gall.
Mr. Northcutt (8-1) beat Enrique Marin of Spain in his last fight in July at the landmark UFC 200 at lightweight.
For this fight, he returns to welterweight to face Mr. Gall (30), who has been on a roll in his young UFC career, winning all his fights so far by submission.
The last of 24-year-old Gall’s submission wins, by way of rear-naked choke in the first round, came at the expense of former professional wrestler CM Punk in the latter’s UFC debut in September.
Also on tap for UFC Sacramento is the bantamweight battle between legend Urijah “The California Kid” Faber (No. 7) and British Brad “One Punch” Pickett.
Mr. Faber (33-10) has lost his last two fights — against reigning champion Dominick Cruz and Jimmie Rivera in that order — while Mr. Pickett (26-12) has been defeated in four of his previous five fights including the last one against Iuri Alcantara by submission (triangle choke).
Rounding out the main card for UFC on Fox 22 is the welterweight bout between Alan “Brahma” Jouban ( 14- 4) and Mike “Platinum” Perry (9-0).
UFC on Fox 22: VanZant vs. Waterson will be shown live locally over Hyper Ch. 53 in SD or 130 in HD on Cignal TV on Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. with an encore showing over TV5 on the same day.
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost directto- home ( DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive three-year deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms. —