When Dana White likened Paige VanZant to UFC legend widely considered one of MMA's GOATs

Dana White once compared Paige VanZant to one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever step foot inside the cage. White expressed his admiration for VanZant's abilities and her strong potential inside the octagon.

VanZant joined the UFC in 2013 and was one of 11 fighters signed for the promotion's newly formed women's strawweight division. She made a successful promotional debut at UFC Fight Night 57 in 2014 and secured a three-fight win streak before losing to former champion Rose Namajunas at UFC Fight Night 80.

Before losing to Namajunas, '12 Gauge' secured an impressive third-round submission win over Alex Chambers at UFC 191 in 2015, earning recognition from White.

During the post-fight press conference, White praised VanZant's "relentless'' pressure and compared her to UFC legend Demetrious Johnson, who headlined UFC 191 in a flyweight title fight against John Dodson, saying:

''She has all the attributes of a little rock star, man, she's got great personality, she's absolutely relentless when she fights. She moves forward, she puts Mighty Mouse type pressure on fighters and yesterday she was the most searched fighter on ufc.com, people love her. All of her all of her sponsors were all sitting around cageside with the phones out filming her when she walked out. She's got it man, she's got to put in the hard work and keep her head together.''

Check out Dana White's comments below:

VanZant (8-5) was 1-3 in her last four octagon appearances, which led to her departure from the promotion following an opening-round loss to Amanda Ribas at UFC 251 in 2020.

Following her exit, the former women’s strawweight contender ventured into boxing, bare-knuckle, and White's Power Slap. In her recent appearance at Power Slap 12 last month, VanZant secured a Unanimous Decision victory over Mikael-Michelle Brown.

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Paige VanZant discusses her UFC return

Paige VanZant supported her husband Austin Vanderford in his octagon debut against Nikolay Veretennikov at UFC Seattle earlier this year. VanZant was thrilled to see Vanderford prevail in the second round via knockout.

During a Power Slap press conference last month, VanZant expressed her desire to fight in UFC again, saying:

''Of course, I wanted to continue to chase dreams, but making the walk with my husband [Austin Vanderford] again, I was like, ‘Damn, like I really miss this and I realise how special it is’...I know it would take a lot of work for me and a lot of dedication for me to earn my shot back into the UFC. But definitely, my heart misses it. So we could [come back], we’ll see.” [H/t: talkSPORT]