PVZ: I wished I went out rather than tap out

UFC women’s strawweight Paige VanZant appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and said she watched the UFC 196 co-main event with some regret. Defending champion Holly Holm was in a rear naked choke applied by Miesha Tate, and opted to go out rather than tap out. At UFC Fight Night 80 on December 10, 2015, VanZant was in a rear naked choke applied by Rose Namajunas, and tapped.

PVZ wishes she had let the nature of a choke take its course. Holm became something of a role model in losing.

“That shows a lot of heart, a lot of determination,,” said VanZant, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “I think she’s gonna come back really, really strong from it.”

“I do care that I lost, but it’s the fact that I tapped out. I said, ‘Rose, you can beat me. Go for it.'”

“I think it’s just you giving up. It’s submitting and saying, ‘I give up, you can win.’ And that’s just where I feel I could have just gone out. I would have rather have gone out than tap out.”

PVZ has been “Dancing with the Stars” lately, but hopes to come back at UFC 200.

“Time wise, that just works perfect for me,” said Van Zant. “I’ll have a great camp leading up to it.”

“I think I have a whole list of girls that are ready to fight. My name comes up all the time. So I know the fight will be there, there’s gonna be fight options out there. It’s just getting the UFC to make a good matchup and I can get back in there. I’m eager to get back in the cage.”