Injury Creates Rare Better Fight with VanZant vs. Namajunas

The injury bug has not been kind to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

For years we have seen highly anticipated main events and other major fights fall through, whether it's months ahead of time or even during the week leading up to the actual fight. Just last week, we saw an injury to Joseph Duffy force him out of the main event of the UFC's latest return to Dublin mere days before the fight was scheduled to take place. And that came on the heels of the co-main event between Stipe Miocic and Ben Rothwell being canceled, too.

Sometimes, the UFC reschedules those fights, as in the case of Duffy vs. Dustin Poirier; that one will take place on January 2, per Wednesday's edition of UFC Tonight. Sometimes, they vanish into the ether. But sometimes, in a few lucky cases, the UFC finds a replacement for the injured opponent, and the replacement ends up making for a better fight than the original would have.

Such is the case of the new main event for the UFC's Fight Pass card on December 10.

Paige VanZant, one of the UFC's young golden prospects, was scheduled to face Joanne Calderwood. That was a very good fight and a good next step for VanZant, who has been mostly handled with kid gloves thus far in her UFC career. She is 3-0 in the UFC, having faced a gradual ladder of talented but beatable opponents. She is ranked No. 6 in the division, and Calderwood is No. 8; it would have been the best opponent on VanZant's resume thus far.

But Calderwood was injured and pulled from the fight. Stepping in? Rose Namajunas, the former The Ultimate Fighter finalist who was once billed as the potential Ronda Rousey of the strawweight division by UFC President Dana White. Namajunas lost the TUF title fight to Carla Esparza, but she remains one of the UFC's best in the strawweight division.

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In pretty much every way imaginable, Namajunas is a better opponent for VanZant. She is a tougher fighter and will give VanZant a bigger test. We can face the facts here: The UFC certainly wants VanZant in the title picture. She is marketable and a frenetic, exciting fighter. And she is young (21), which means that, if handled properly, she can exist near the top of that division for years to come.

Namajunas is also ranked much higher than Calderwood at No. 3, which means a win would do more for the prospects of pushing VanZant into the title picture than a victory over Calderwood would.

But all of that comes with a price. Namajunas could end up being a much tougher out. VanZant would have been favored by most to beat Calderwood. Against Namajunas, that is not a sure thing. She is a wonderful ground fighter, and VanZant's typical smothering top game likely won't work on her as well as it would have on Calderwood.

In essence, the kid gloves are off. The UFC is done handling her with care. If VanZant is indeed the real thing, she'll prove it against Namajunas. If she needs more seasoning against lesser opponents, that will also be shown.

Much has been made of the way the UFC has carefully matched VanZant up against beatable opponents. The company has been accused of favoritism, as though the process of building a new star is somehow different in 2015 than it was 10 years ago. This has always been the way of things in mixed martial arts. When you have someone like VanZant, who is young and has a bright future, you take care of her. You give her experience and let her grow and hope that she someday is able to provide a return on the investment.

But for some reason—perhaps because of VanZant's looks—the UFC has been accused of bringing her along too slowly. But the truth is it has not. The UFC has given her every chance to improve and shine, and now it is putting her in the cage with someone who will provide a real litmus test for her skills.

And in doing so, it has created a better fight for December 10. It's the perfect kind of main event for Fight Pass, one with enough intrigue that people might just sign up for the service to see it. It is unfortunate that things worked out this way for Calderwood.

But for the rest of us, and for the UFC and VanZant, it's a great thing. She gets the test she needs to move into the top tier of her division. The UFC gets a bigger fight to promote, and no matter who wins, it has a potential star coming out of it. And those of us at home (and in the arena) have a more intriguing fight to look forward to.

That's a win, no matter how you look at it.