Paige VanZant is just one week away from her bare-knuckle boxing debut, but she revealed that she hasn’t completely closed the door on MMA just yet.
Speaking to TMZ Sports ahead of her bout with Britain Hart at BKFC: Knuckle Mania on Feb. 5, VanZant revealed that she learned of a clause in her current deal that allowed her to take an MMA bout while still under contract with BKFC.
“BKFC, they did give me the liberty in my contract to be able to take an MMA fight. I was informed of that by my manager, and I didn’t know that at first,” VanZant explained. “At first, I was like, ‘No, I just want to do the boxing.’ But I think that, coming to American Top Team, it rebirthed my excitement and I now realize how good I am.”
VanZant waxed lyrical about how training at the South Florida gym had boosted her confidence as an MMA fighter, despite her decision to walk away from the sport to pursue a new fighting career in the world of bare-knuckle boxing. That newfound confidence, she said, could one day see her return to the cage again.
“I’m training with these coaches who believe in me. Having them say they believe in me, and they train some of the best fighters in the entire world, and they look at me and they believe that I’m good,” she said. “So that kinda sparked that passion all over the place. So yeah, maybe I will take an MMA fight. I’m strictly focused on the boxing right now, especially for this fight. That’s all I do. But, maybe. Let’s see. The door is open, so it’s definitely there.”
VanZant also took a stand against those who have spoken negatively about her switch from MMA to bare-knuckle boxing, and said that she has stayed quiet about the hate she’s received for too long.
“You know what? I have, for the majority of my career – and I’ve been thinking about this – why have I kept my mouth shut so much about all the haters, and about all the hate and negativity I get?” she said. “My idea was, if you talk (expletive) about somebody, you should be willing to say that to their face. And not a single person who has said anything negative about me publicly has been willing to say it to my face, and I’ve seen people in person.”
She also had a clear message for those who said she shouldn’t subject her face to the at-times graphic damage that can be sustained during a bare-knuckle fight.
“All the negativity about ‘Oh! My face!’ Grow up!” she said. “It’s a face, and it’s mine, and I can do whatever I want with it, and guess what, I’m still going to be beautiful, even if I get cut open. It’s not a big deal. … That’s so condescending to think of your beauty as being important.”
