Ex-Ultimate
Fighting Championship star Paige
VanZant has her opponent for her first bare knuckle match in
2021.
VanZant (0-0 BK) posted on her Instagram on
Thursday announcing the signing of the bout agreement for her Feb.
5 fight with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. The date of her
debut had been previously announced, but her opponent had not been
made official. At BKFC 14 in November, Britain Hart (1-2 BK, 1 KO)
battered Randine
Eckholm to force a fourth-round stoppage. After the match, Hart
called for a fight with VanZant. Additionally, Hart came on the
broadcast at BKFC 15 to again call for her shot against the former
UFC fighter. Her wish has been granted, per MMA
Fighting on Thursday. The two will meet at the BKFC
featherweight division, which is 125 pounds.
VanZant transitions over to bare knuckle boxing after a 13-fight
MMA career including nine in the UFC. On the heels of three losses
in four bouts from 2016 to 2020, VanZant became a free agent and
left the promotion to seek offers elsewhere. Instead of moving to
another league like Bellator MMA, “12 Gauge” opted to switch sports
entirely. As an MMA fighter, VanZant recorded two knockouts, and
her most recent came from a head kick against Bec
Rawlings. The other came against Kailin
Curran, when VanZant put Curran on her back and finished the
fight with ground-and-pound. Both of these techniques would be
illegal in BKFC, which uses a modified version of boxing rules.
Facing the “Dancing with the Stars” finalist will be Hart, a
fighter who earned her first BK win when she stopped Eckholm. Her
first two pro bare knuckle bouts came with BKFC in 2018 and 2019,
when she fought Rawlings for the inaugural title and dropped a
split verdict. Her subsequent fight against Christine
Ferea was even less successful, as Ferea forced a doctor
stoppage 69 seconds into the second round for the vacant belt. As a
boxer, Hart maintained an even 4-4-3 record, scoring three
knockouts along the way. Her most recent pro boxing bout came in
August, when she forced then-unbeaten Kim Wabik to quit on the
stool between rounds.
BKFC 16 will take place on Super Bowl weekend in Tampa, Fla., and
the venue has not yet been set. The Feb. 5 card will be headlined
by VanZant vs. Hart, while a co-featured matchup sees the
lightweight strap – 135 pounds – on the line as champ Johnny
Bedford looks to defend it against Dat Nguyen.
Ulysses
Diaz, who authored a three-second knockout at BKFC 14, will
also be competing against an undisclosed opponent.