Paige VanZant Still Finishes Fight After Fracturing Arm
ST. LOUIS (CBS13/AP) — Jessica-Rose Clark ended a difficult week with a unanimous decision over Paige VanZant on Sunday in the UFC Fight Night card.
The 30-year-old Australian improved to 9-4, receiving winning scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 from the judges.
Clark's Las Vegas home was broken into Thursday while she was in St. Louis for the flyweight battle. Thieves stole $30,000 worth of jewelry and video games. Her 1-year-old cat, Dwight, was kicked repeatedly, suffered broken ribs and had to be euthanized.
"I had a stressful week and I did let the stress get to me a bit," Clark said. "I just want to get home and I will figure out the rest later."
VanZant, a former "Dancing With The Stars" runner-up, fell to 7-4.
The 23-year-old VanZant held a 68-67 advantage in strikes, but Clark was the aggressor. She successfully took the fight to the ground where she held control for 5 minutes and 5 seconds of the three-round 15-minute affair.
"I knew coming in that I was the better fighter and I worked hard to show that," Clark said.
VanZant tweeted after the fight that she had broken her right arm during the fight. The break came during the second round of the three-round fight.
Well... I broke my arm in the first! I was able to finish the fight but as you can see, had a hard recovering and throwing my right. I'll be back better and stronger than ever! ???????????? it's all apart of the fight game. God had other plans for me. ???????? darn spinning back fist. pic.twitter.com/v5DhSv5YxD
— Paige VanZant (@paigevanzant) January 15, 2018
The fight was the co-feature on an 11-bout card,
Jeremy Stephens beat Dooho Choi at featherweight n the other featured fight.
Stephens, from Des Moines, Iowa, knocked out Choi at 2:36 of the second round with a right hand to the head. He immediately pounced on Choi and pummeled him with short punches.
Stephens improved to 27-14.
"There is no way I was coming to the Midwest and losing," Stephens said.
Choi, from South Korea, is 14-3.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.