Urijah Faber gave rising UFC star Paige VanZant advice on how to deal with fame

It happened when someone on social media said that UFC women’s strawweight star Paige VanZant was boozing it up, despite the fact that she’d had only a half-shot for her 21st birthday.

UFC bantamweight veteran Urijah Faber took VanZant aside and lent some veteran-ly advice on how to deal with the fame that’s latched itself to her since she started fighting in the UFC’s octagon.

“That poor girl has just been thrown into this whirlwind,” Faber, who next faces Frankie Saenz (11-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 194, told MMAjunkie. (UFC 194 takes place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena on Dec. 12.)

VanZant (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) can only expect more of the same as she continues to climb up the ranks. This past Saturday, she notched her third straight UFC win, submitting Alex Chambers on the pay-per-view opener of UFC 191 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The matchup didn’t come without its share of critics, who pointed out that Chambers was a step down from VanZant’s previous opponent, Felice Herrig, who was outpointed at UFC on FOX 15.

Several days after the fight, VanZant was the target of a White House petition for not shaving her head as promised for charity.

And just recently, she was the target of callouts from women’s strawweights and “The Ultimate Fighter 20” vets Randa Markos and Bec Rawlings. So a lot of eyes are watching.

Thankfully, according to Faber, who heads the Team Alpha Male gym where VanZant trains, the young fighter has the support system to deal with the pressure that comes with so much attention. That’s part of the reason why she’s had success.

“There’s two things that really help out,” he said. “She’s instinctively a very, very positive person and takes things in stride, and the second thing, she’s super tight with her family. That’s what we try to recreate on our team, a healthy family environment.”

Check out the above video to get Faber’s thoughts on working with VanZant.

For more on UFC 191, check out the UFC Events section of the site.