UFC on FOX 22 results: Michelle Waterson swarms, submits Paige VanZant in first

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Michelle Waterson danced right along with Paige VanZant in the buildup to their UFC on FOX 22 headliner. But when the former Invicta FC champ got down to it, she was all business.

Waterson (14-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) bullied VanZant (7-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on the mat before locking her in a rear-naked choke that forced referee intervention at the 3:21 mark of the first round.

The strawweight bout headlined today’s UFC on FOX 22 event at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. It aired on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

“I’m really excited,” Waterson said. “I know that they’re popping it up that I was calling her green, but she’s going places, and I just wanted to thank her for giving me the opportunity to come here.”

Waterson opened the fight using her side kick to keep VanZant at distance. But that wasn’t much of a problem, with VanZant spending most of her time moving laterally around the octagon, only to interrupt the pattern with quick charges.

When VanZant got close, Waterson was ready, stinging the “Dancing with the Stars” vet with her right hand. After getting caught a few times, VanZant came in aggressive and tried to hip toss her opponent to the mat. The strategy quickly backfired.

Waterson blocked the attempt and pushed VanZant to the cage, where she used her opponent’s weapon against her, executing a head-and-arm throw to put the fight on the mat.

“She’s known for that head and arm, so I wanted to see if I could throw it on her,” Waterson, an honorable mention in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, said.

VanZant attempted to scramble to reverse the position. Instead, she exposed her back, allowing Waterson to take control and set up a choke.

After several minutes of struggle, Waterson finally secured the submission under VanZant’s neck. As she struggled to free herself, VanZant slowly went to sleep, forcing referee John McCarthy to intervene.

Waterson had dealt with numerous injuries prior to her fight with the popular VanZant and hadn’t competed since July 2015, when she made a successful octagon debut via rear-naked choke against Angela Mangana.

With a high-profile win under her belt, she gets a head start on building momentum toward a title shot in the UFC and picks up her second straight win. VanZant goes back to the drawing board after a knockout win against Bec Rawlings in her previous outing.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 22 results include:

• Michelle Waterson def. Paige VanZant via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:21
• Mickey Gall def. Sage Northcutt via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:40
• Urijah Faber def. Brad Pickett via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26
• Alan Jouban def. Mike Perry via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Paul Craig def. Luis Henrique da Silva via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:59
• Mizuto Hirota def. Cole Miller via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Colby Covington def. Bryan Barberena via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alex Morono def. James Moontasri via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Josh Emmett def. Scott Holtzman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Leslie Smith def. Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Eddie Wineland def. Takeya Mizugaki via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:04
• Hector Sandoval def. Fredy Serrano via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
• Sultan Aliev def. Bojan Velickovic via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 22, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report from on site in Sacramento.)