Paige VanZant fought out her UFC contract to test free agency, and came up short in her final fight, getting armbarred by Amanda Rivas in the first half of Round 1. VanZant is now testing the market having gone 1-3 her last four, a tougher sell than a two-fight win streak.
In a recent interview with Damon Martin for MMA Fighting, the 26-year-old said that in order to fight again as soon as possible, she intends to put off a planned surgery to have a plate in her arm removed.
“I’m sad about the way it went, but this is the first time in my entire career where, I get emotional after losses, and most times I’ll cry for like a week, but this fight, I only cried for like an hour after the loss,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I finally realized the losses definitely don’t define you.
“Maybe I did have to hit rock bottom. It’s just going to make my comeback story that much greater coming off a loss and an arm injury, and I have 10-plus years to fight and show off how good I am.”
“I don’t want to have surgery again. Before the fight, I had said I might need to have one more arm surgery to feel 100 percent, but even through this, I do feel 100 percent, and I’m hoping to sign a new fight promotion with somebody and fight this year if I can.”
“I want to fight as soon as possible. In my mind, I’m going to go ahead and delete that last fight and start over. I don’t know how long this negotiation stuff goes. I’m hoping quick, cause I definitely don’t have any injuries. I don’t even know if I got hit, so I’m ready to fight again.”
VanZant has said repeatedly that she is willing to re-sign with the UFC, given a contract she considers fair. However, UFC president Dana White said he liked PVZ, but that she should definitely test free agency. His implication was that a thing is worth what someone will pay for it, and that the fight business may not have what she wants.
