Paige VanZant, with new partner, gets top score so far on 'Dancing with the Stars'

from MMA Junkie on Mar 29, 2016
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When Monday night’s second episode of Season 22 of “Dancing with the Stars” opened up, it was easy to see something was awry for UFC strawweight Paige VanZant.

The show always opens with the introduction of the stars and their pro partners, who get a quick couple seconds of screen time against the backdrop of audience applause and a musical number from the house band. But when it was time for VanZant’s intro, Mark Ballas, her pro partner, was nowhere to be found, leaving “12 Gauge” Paige with a brief shrug of the shoulders and a solo routine for the camera.

Ballas wasn’t merely AWOL, though. The longtime “DWTS” standout injured his back during a Sunday on-stage camera-blocking rehearsal for his salsa routine with VanZant. Just a few hours before the show went live, it was determined he couldn’t dance, and that left backup dancer and “DWTS” troupe member Alan Bersten to take Ballas’ place – with just two hours to get the routine down in full before showtime.

Bersten passed with flying colors, as did VanZant. The pair picked up a trio of eights from judges Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba for their salas to “Danza Kuduro” by Don Omar, featuring Lucenzo – a wildly popular song in Brazil that no doubt is familiar to UFC fans given how often it’s featured on cards with Brazilian fighters. At the time, the score was the best of the night, though Wanya Morris would go on to equal that total later in the show. But perhaps most importantly, head judge Goodman told VanZant the routine was the best dance so far in Season 22.

The 24 points out of a possible 30 had VanZant tied with Morris for Episode No. 2’s top score, and through two weeks the 24s are the best scores of the season. In Week 1, VanZant and Ballas danced a foxtrot and picked up a score of 21/30, putting them in a four-way tie for fourth place.

Overall, VanZant has 45 total points through two weeks, putting her second behind Morris, a singer with Boyz II Men, and his pro partner, Lindsay Arnold. But not far behind in third place is “Good Morning America” meteorologist Ginger Zee with 44 points and “America’s Next Top Model” winner Nyle DiMarco, who is deaf, with 43.

Contestants advance on the show based on their scores with the judges as well as fan votes. Each week, the dancer with the lowest combined score of the judges’ tallies and the fans’ votes is eliminated. The lowest scores for Week 1 were Geraldo Rivera and pro Edyta Sliwinska with 13, Doug Flutie and pro Karina Smirnoff with 15, and Mischa Barton and pro Artem Chigvintsev with 16. Those three couples were singled out as being in jeopardy at the end of Monday’s episode, and Rivera was eliminated from the show. Earlier in the night, he had another 13/30.

Going into the season, VanZant was the betting favorite to win the show at Bovada, which had the 21-year-old at 2-1 to win the long-running ABC dancing competition.

VanZant (6-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) most recently fought in December, when she suffered a submission loss to Rose Namajunas. It halted a three-fight winning streak that had moved the heavily promoted fighter up the 115-pound ranks. “Dancing with the Stars” runs through May, which means VanZant is unlikely to be booked for a fight until her time on the show is over. However, July’s big UFC 200 event would still be in the running for her next fight.

As for Ballas, the 29-year-old, who has two “DWTS” titles on his resume, said on the show he will have the results of a CT scan and MRI today for what he thought might be a slipped disc in his back. That leaves whether or not he’ll be able to return for the rest of the season still up in the air.

Above, check out VanZant’s second dance in full. Below, check out video clips featuring VanZant from Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars” second Season 22 episode. And stay tuned to MMAjunkie later today for VanZant’s exclusive wrap-up Q&A with MMAjunkie from Episode No. 2.

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