Now-healthy Felice Herrig wants Paige VanZant rematch to see who's better: 'I believe it's me'

After upsetting Alexa Grasso this Saturday to win her second octagon outing in a row, Felice Herrig expressed her interest in both fighters involved in December’s UFC on FOX 22 headliner.

Having beat Paige VanZant (7-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in that appointment, Michele Waterson (14-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) would certainly be a logical move for Herrig (12-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) career-wise, considering they’re both on the upswing and that, according to Herrig, they were matched up two weeks before Waterson vs. VanZant came together.

And, of course, she’ll gladly take a booking against Waterson.

Rematching VanZant, however, appeals to Herring for different reasons. While she clarifies there’s no personal “vendetta” against her former opponent, Herrig sees the scrap as a chance to not only avenge her sole octagon loss, but also to prove a point.

“A lot of people, like the casual MMA fans, they didn’t follow my career before the UFC,” Herrig told MMAjunkie Radio. “They just saw me in the UFC. So when I fought Paige and I lost to her, they think that I lost to her and that was me in there just getting outschooled and outclassed, but it wasn’t. That’s why I took time off, it’s because I medically was not capable of fighting. Something happened in there where I just couldn’t move, my body couldn’t move. It was a very scary thing, and I didn’t know what was happening.

“I feel like that fight – it happened, unfortunately – but I feel like it never happened, because Paige didn’t fight me. So I want her to fight me at my best and then see, ‘Now, who is the better fighter?’ And I believe it’s me. And its my only loss in the UFC and I do want that fight again, because I do have something to prove. And I think that I’ve made a strong case for it.

“I think my past two performances can kind of show that maybe there’s something to it – maybe that wasn’t an excuse, that was real. I feel that I’ve had a comeback story, and I want to show people that that Paige VanZant vs. Felice Herrig fight wasn’t what was supposed to be if I was healthy.”

It’s certainly hard to argue with her results. After dropping the unanimous decision loss to VanZant in April 2015, Herrig took around 14 months off and worked with a performance doctor to address the health issues before returning to the octagon in 2016.

She proceeded to submit Kailin Curran less than two minutes into their UFC on FOX 20 fight in front of her home fans in Chicago, earning a “Performance of the Night” bonus for her efforts. Then she beat the odds to outclass the undefeated Grasso for an unanimous decision win at this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 104.

Herrig, who’s an honorable mention in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, gives props to “great fighter” (and also an honorable mention) Grasso. But nine years and eight fights Grasso’s senior, she believes the up-and-comer hadn’t really had the opportunity to fight the highest level of competition yet. And that’s where her experience proved valuable.

“I know people said that, ‘Oh, Grasso didn’t show up.’ But I don’t think that’s true,” Herrig said. “I think I didn’t allow her to show up. You know, my coach (Jeff Curran) kept saying, ‘Don’t get in a firefight, don’t get in a firefight,’ ’cause I was a brawler for many years and it’s not like I can’t brawl. But I think there comes a point in your career where I don’t need to brawl. What’s that going to prove?

“I fought a smart fight. I could have gone out there and done more exchanges, but then I also could have gotten clipped at the end of am exchange, or done something stupid – because when do you get in those heated exchanges, you get reckless. And I think that’s where the experience came in.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 104, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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