UFC star Paige VanZant went through a lot to get to where she is today, and for the first time, she is sharing some of the most difficult aspects of her youth in detail.
In her book, entitled “Rise: Surviving the Fight of My Life,” VanZant recounts attending a party in Dayton, Ore., while she was in high school where she was sexually assaulted by a group of boys. VanZant says she ended up in that situation in part because of loneliness, which resulted from the constant bullying she experienced in school.
“I felt like I was a smart girl,” VanZant told “Good Morning America.” “My parents raised me well. They raised me to know better and to have some intuition, and it all went out the window just because I was so lonely, and I was in so much pain. All I could think about is like, ‘Wow, I have somebody that wants to be my friend.’
“When I walked in the door of their house, I was like, ‘This proba…