Paige VanZant signed with the UFC as a teenager, but after nine fights and over six years with the promotion, she knew she was ready to move on.
Back in the pandemic year in 2020, VanZant was booked for a fight at UFC 251, which served as the final bout on her contract. She ultimately lost by submission to Amanda Ribas, but she was still a commodity the UFC wanted to keep on the roster.
After reaching free agency, VanZant received an offer to return to the UFC, and the easy decision would have been to ink the deal to stay in the biggest MMA promotion in the world. Instead, she felt like it was the right time to do something else.
“Me re-signing with the UFC would have been the safe choice, but I just wasn’t happy anymore,” VanZant told MMA Fighting. “It’s not ill will toward the UFC, but I just knew I needed something else. I needed a change. I signed with the UFC when I was 19. I had my first fight when I was 20. I need something different. I need to spark my passion again.
“Looking back, I kind of had my mind made up that I was ready to leave the UFC. So when I became a free agent and they came with their offer to re-sign me, I was already moved on. That part of my life is closed, and I was ready for the next chapter, and I didn’t know what it would be.”
VanZant immediately started fielding offers, but she shocked the world by signing a deal to join the roster at BKFC. At the time, bare-knuckle fighting was only legal in a handful of states, and the sport was still fighting to gain mainstream recognition.
The contract with BKFC wasn’t just about money, though that certainly didn’t hurt. Still, VanZant wanted a different kind of challenge, and bare-knuckle gave her that opportunity.
“Making the transition to BKFC, I’m really happy I did it still,” VanZant said. “I’m so super happy with the decision.
“Me switching to BKFC hasn’t been successful just for wins, I feel accomplished. I went 10 rounds with some really, really tough people, some really tough chicks doing bare-knuckle boxing. Anybody who steps into bare-knuckle boxing needs to get a round of applause. It’s a whole different animal. It’s violent and brutal, and it feels different.”
Porn.
She better before she blows up looking like a whale
She doesn’t mention the heavy arm surgery she had, a long metal plate in her arm.
Damage control.
Trying to save face because she couldn’t take it.
It’s a built in defense mechanism.
“I launched it right before my first BKFC fight. I’m in the car on the way from the press conference back to my hotel, and I logged in, and it had only been live for an hour and I was seeing the subscribers going up, and I think I had 52,000 subscribers at one point. “I was showing my husband, and I was like, ‘Oh my word!’”
“That moment driving back, I was of course extremely excited to fight, but I was like our lives just changed forever,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is OK, this is going to work out. All the risks are worth it. If I never work with another sponsor again, we’re going to be fine.’ I don’t have sponsors – I don’t have to. I’m working on building my own company, promoting myself and not just building up other people.”
“I don’t wake up and have to push an agenda for somebody, or sell something for a company or help them grow. I’m just building me and myself, and sharing things that I’m passionate about, and sharing things that are absolutely true. No one’s paying me to say anything that I say. It all comes straight from the source.”