Former UFC strawweight Paige VanZant has signed a deal with Bare Knuckle FC, it was announced earlier today.
VanZant last fought for the UFC at UFC 251, where she was submitted in the first round by Amanda Ribas, and after rumours of her future had been circulating for a while, she finally confirmed her move to Bare Knuckle FC.
The news was broken during an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, with VanZant revealing she'd signed on for four fights and currently plans on making her debut in the organisation around November.
"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."
VanZant is set to make $1m with incentives attached to the contract, despite never having competed in bare-knuckle fighting or pro boxing in the past.
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