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Willy Zayas from MMA Underground
Interview with Paige “12 Gauge” Van Zant
April 16, 2014 at 5:45pm
If you want to show her some love, please check her out on the links below:Official Site: http://www.12gaugepaigevanzant.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaigeVanZantTwitter: https://twitter.com/paigevanzantInstaGram: http://instagram.com/paige_vanzantI would like to personally thank Paige Van Zant, Jarrod Rogol and the rest of her management team for taking the time to allow us to conduct this interview.
A special thanks to Bill Larkin at http://www.portraitsreno.com for the great picture of the beautiful Paige Van Zant.
Willy: When you were kid, what did you want to be when you grew up and why?
PVZ: When I was a kid the only thing that I wanted to be was a fireman. I have no idea why, but I was dead set on that. I even was a fireman for Halloween a few years.
Willy: How did you get in to the sport?
PVZ: I get asked this question a lot. And the more that I think about it, I believe that fate brought me to MMA. I moved from small town where my parents owned a dance studio. I grew up dancing and when I moved to a scary town like Reno I was nervous and bored. My dad had been a fan of Ken Shamrock and found out that his gym was in Reno. So he asked me to try a class for fun and I ended up falling in love with fighting. It was my escape from the rest of my crazy life.
Willy: Back when you were in High School you got bullied by upper classmen, what are your thoughts about bullying in general? What advice can you give to other kids that might be in your same situation today?
PVZ: I don't know why I was the target for all of the bulling. For the longest time I believe what they were saying was true about me because I heard it every day. The only advice I can give is to get help! If my mom had not been such a good support for me I would not be here today. Although I never told her at the time what was happening, or what had happened to me she knew that I was on the edge of a breakdown and she did everything she could to help. And that pretty much meant picking me up from school every day. More importantly to everyone reading this, you may not know that you are being a bully. Everything you say to someone effects them. You never know if your one rude comment is the one that pushes someone past their breaking point.
Willy: Your nickname is "12 Gauge." Who gave you that name?
PVZ: After I went pro I really wanted a fight name but I had no ideas what fit for me. I posted a Facebook post asking for ideas, and "12 gauge" was one of the ideas posted. When I showed my family, that's the one that they picked. I am a tough chick who grew up hunting and riding dirt bikes. No other name would work.
Willy: Have you always been ultra-competitive?
PVZ: I have always been crazy competitive! My family had to cancel game night because if I didn't win I would through a fit. Now the competitiveness works for me. I have a desire to be the best and I know what it takes to be a champion.
Willy: What's your favorite strike/submission to use in any fight?
PVZ: Well I can't give that away now can I.
Willy: What would you say your biggest strengths are, and what's the thing you need to work on the most?
PVZ: That's for my coach and I to know. Wink wink
Willy: You are now training with Team Alpha Male, how is it training with some of the best fighters in MMA?
PVZ: Being part of Team Alpha Male has been a blessing. Urijah is an amazing fighter and coach. I am honored that I get to work with his coaches and train along side of him.
Willy: Who would you like to face on your UFC debut? And why?
PVZ: I will be ready for anyone the UFC gives me!
Willy: Now to end the interview, We want to give one of our lucky fans a free Paige VanZant T-Shirt. We know you love to cook and are a gourmet chef…We would like for them to try to replicate your most favorite dishes. What is your favorite meal and can you share the recipe so they can try it?
PVZ: Yes! My favorite dinner to make is pasta with a sun dried tomato garlic cream sauce. Stuffed baby bell peppers with bacon and ricotta. And mini pumpkin cheese cakes.
Willy: Any closing comments?
PVZ: Thank you to my management One Dream Zero Distraction and all my sponsors, P2o hot Pilates in Sacramento, supplementanimals.com, Bill Larkin at CVP portraits and Riehl custom bailing Waco tx.
If you want to show her some love, please check her out on the links below:
Official Site: http://www.12gaugepaigevanzant.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaigeVanZant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/paigevanzant
InstaGram: http://instagram.com/paige_vanzant
MMAUG Interview
MMAUG Exclusive
So who is "The Eagle" and why is everyone avoiding this fight? Here is a little insight on Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Jan 14, 2014
The young up-and-coming fighter, who is destined to be champion being avoided by everyone else in the division is an age old tradition in combat sports. We've seen it in boxing with Mike Tyson in the early 90's where no one wanted a piece of Iron Mike. We see it today with Gennady Golovkin, the WBA and IBO Boxing Champion who has a 89% Knock out rate. These are the type of fighters that no one wants part of...why?
In MMA, towards the top level at least, it's somewhat less of a common occurrence. The best fight the best and fighters get their chance because everyone is willing to fight everyone else. But when you have a special fighter who is about to burst into stardom, it's not always easy to get the already established stars to risk their position. Think about it, why would they? If they lose, they drop in rank. If they win, the opponent was simply all-hype. That may be a risky position to be in, but being the fighter needing a marquee breakthrough bout and not being able to get it...thats simply upsetting.
That is exactly the position where UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov finds himself in today. The youngster currently has 21-fight career fights and remains unbeaten. The Russian has dominated everyone he has faced and has put together five unmatched slaughterhouse to open his career in the UFC. The Sambo expert submitted Kamal Shalorus in his debut, knocked out Thiago Tavares and dominated powerhouses Gleison Tibau and Abel Trujillo before taking his first top-10 scalp against veteran Pat Healy to send out a message to every 155 pounder.
The Eagle was practically guaranteed of a top-5 opponent in his next fight. It sure looked that way when the UFC produced posters in the UFC168, where the first press-conference was pitting him against former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez. That idea was later scuppered by UFC president Dana White who said it was announced prematurely.
Nate Diaz was the next dance partner suggested for "The Eagle" but again White took to twitter to tell us the fight wouldn't be happening. This time, though, the UFC president claimed Diaz turned down the fight and that "nobody wants to fight Khabib". This was met by a typically robust denial from Diaz and a brilliant tweet by Nurmagomedov saying; "Who know where is my opponent? He is lost somewhere, I want to call police to help me." Michael Johnson subsequently offered to take the fight and that now looks like it could happen.
The bigger question here, though, is whether it could become a growing trend to turn down dangerous fights. When Jon Jones turned down the chance to fight Chael Sonnen on a weeks notice and UFC 151 was cancelled, the UFC, namely Dana White, seemed to be worried about it setting a precedent. He then proceeded to attack Jones and his camp in a show of anger at his decision.
UFC fighters don't turn down fights. But now, over a year after UFC 151, maybe they do. In such a young sport, looking at how to prolong a career wasn't an issue in the past - but now it is. Jon Jones was the first to openly admit his decision to turn down a fight devoid of any testosterone-fueled bravado with his future in mind. Now others are following his lead. It was bound to happen. People might not like "ducking" but are just going to have to live with it.
For Nurmagomedov, he may have to bide his time for the moment. His opportunity will come, though. There is no denying his talent and he can only be avoided for so long.
So who do you think "The Eagle" should fight?
