The UFC's "9 Days of Fury" kicks off on Thursday with 43 fights across four major events. While most people will be focusing on one — Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo at Saturday's UFC 194 — the people in charge of the UFC will keep close watch on two others.
Two nights before McGregor-Aldo, 21-year-old Paige VanZant and 19-year-old Sage Northcutt will compete at Thursday's UFC Fight Night 80. Wins could serve as huge steps in building two of the UFC's next big stars.
What separates these young fighters from the pack? The obvious answer is their physical appearance. VanZant is a former model.
Paige VanZant (mmanews.com)
Northcutt looks like a cross between Ivan Drago and Zak Morris.
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Sage Northcutt (via Twitter)
But UFC president Dana White isn't excited about these two only because of looks.
The UFC's success comes from its ability to put recognizable fighters on pay-per-view and television cards to draw in diehard, casual and new MMA fans over and over. The company will typically get behind fighters with marketable personas (i.e., Brock Lesnar as the unstoppable monster or McGregor as the cocky upstart) and tangible success inside the Octagon. VanZant and Northcutt's bubbly, upbeat personalities make them perfect candidates to become baby faces for whom fans will want to cheer.
"There's a lot of girls out there that can relate to me," VanZant said in an interview with Fox Sports. "They can look at me and see themselves a little bit. There's a lot of girls out there that have a tougher side to them. I just think that people are really grown and attracted to that and that's why people like to see me fight."
"It's an incredible feeling," Northcutt said in an interview with SN's Steven Muehlhausen. "Just to know that you have MMA fans that are behind you and want to know when your next fight will be.
"I want to compete as soon as I possibly can. That means if there's an event next weekend, then I'll be ready to compete next weekend and start cutting weight and make weight. I'd be ready today or tomorrow if I had to. Whenever the opportunity comes … I'll be ready for that."
Between the two, VanZant (6-1) has the better opportunity to find success first. She is No. 6 in the women's strawweight division and a victory over No. 3 Rose Namajunas (3-2) in Thursday's main event could launch her into the conversation for a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
VanZant's timing couldn't be better. Strawweight is the second-smallest division in the promotion with 33 fighters, and the company wants to push new female fighters to the top of the card with Ronda Rousey saying she plans to retire in a couple years. If VanZant keeps winning, she could become the "next Ronda Rousey."
"The sky's the limit for her," VanZant's manager, Mike Roberts, told Fox Sports. "Obviously, she's got to keep getting better as a fighter and improving what she's putting in the work to make it happen. She has a unique ability that I think is different from a lot of other people — she connects with everybody.
"She has that connection with people just being the girl next door. She doesn't get caught up in the stardom at all."
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Northcutt has marketability as the UFC's youngest fighter, but his road to becoming a big name will be a lot longer. His fight against Cody Pfister (12-4-1) will be his second for UFC. His class, lightweight, is the promotion's largest with 110 contracted fighters. It also is loaded with talented fighters.
That hasn't deterred Northcutt, however. In a recent episode of "UFC Embedded," Northcutt said he wants to become the youngest champion in UFC history. That record is held by Jon Jones, who won the light heavyweight title at 23 years old. Northcutt has a few years to climb the rankings.
And he reportedly has one of the best trainers possible to help him get there. According to Northcutt, he plans to start work at the Tristar Gym in Montreal under Firas Zahabi. That gym produced former UFC champion Georges St. Pierre and No. 1-ranked welterweight Rory MacDonald.
That's pretty good company, and it's a solid support system for a fighter who is just beginning to navigate the road to stardom.