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After a nine-bout stint with the UFC, Paige
VanZant is taking her talents to Bare Knuckle Fighting
Championship.
ESPN was first to report VanZant’s new deal. The four-fight,
exclusive contract is reportedly worth $1 million, with more
incentives attached. She
recently revealed that she earned more competing on “Dancing
with the Stars” and promoting brands on Instagram than she did
fighting for the UFC.
VanZant believes competing in bare knuckle boxing will establish
her as a serious combat sports athlete and is targeting a November
debut.
“It was an amazing contract, an amazing opportunity,” VanZant told
ESPN. “I also feel like it’s not a move backwards for me. It’s a
lateral move to a new opportunity, a new challenge, a brand new
sport. I really have sparked a brand new passion for it and
especially for striking in general.
“And, on top of that, I feel like I still have this stigma in MMA
that I’m just a pretty face, and what a way to prove to people
that’s not the way I see myself at all. This is a sport where
people probably have the highest rate of getting cut open and
having long-term scars is definitely something that I’m not even
worried about for me. It’s just the love of competition and I’m
really excited to go out there and show off in such an amazing
sport.”
According to a report from
MMAFighting.com, VanZant turned down an offer from Bellator
MMA, where her husband, Austin
Vanderford, currently competes. VanZant told ESPN that she
received offers from numerous MMA organizations.
“I talked to a lot of different promotions,” VanZant said. “I
actually had no idea that I would have so many come with such big
offers. I knew I would get the big players in the game, like
Bellator or One, but I actually had five or six huge, solid
promotions that I had to decide on. For me, at this moment in my
career, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship was the one that fit
best.”
VanZant went 5-4 during her UFC tenure, a mark that includes a
victory over BKFC champion Bec
Rawlings in 2016. The 26-year-old, who recently moved her
training to American Top Team, says she hasn’t ruled out a return
to MMA down the road.
“I don’t know that I am done with MMA,” VanZant said. “I know
momentarily I am. I still have a huge passion for MMA, and I just
recently relocated to Florida to train with American Top Team.
Obviously they are one of the best MMA gyms in the world. Right
now, my sole focus is boxing, but in a few years I could go back to
MMA or I could just be making so much doing this bare knuckle
boxing that I don’t do anything else.”