Paige VanZant signs with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, over Bellator
Paige VanZant has signed a new multi-fight, exclusive contract with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, according to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.
Paige VanZant is taking the gloves off and going bare-knuckle in her next combat career.
The former UFC fighter has penned a new four-fight, exclusive contract with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, multiple sources told ESPN.
Her debut for BKFC isn’t announced yet, although, the current plan is for her to compete in November, Helwani said.
According to ESPN, the worth of the deal is more than over one million dollars, with incentives attached, too. It represents a consequential raise from what she was making in the UFC.
After running down her contract with the UFC, the 26-year-old MMA star has chosen to sign with the, newly sport capital Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Terms of VanZant’s multi-fight deal were not disclosed.
VanZant (8-5-0 MMA, 0-0 Bare Knuckle), on Wednesday posted a picture of her signing a contract, stating that she is “about to change the game” and teasing fight news “coming soon.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzNrMtHURd/?utm_source=ig_embed
BKFC and Bellator were the front runners trying for VanZant’s signature after her departure from the UFC, which came one month after a first-round submission loss to Amanda Ribas at UFC 251. Bellator President Scott Coker announced that VanZant declined an offer with the Viacom CBS-owned promotion, who has a contract with her husband, Austin Vanderford.
The Ribas fight was VanZant’s first fight in 18-months after a set of injury setbacks with her right arm, which was broken in January 2018 during a fight with Jessica-Rose Clark. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, she said she would put off surgery to make a quick turnaround, for a “comeback story.” She’s never competed in bare knuckle fighting or pro boxing.
According to ESPN, the MMA giants in the UFC didn’t engage in serious talks to re-sign her going into her final fight. VanZant did speak to other MMA promotions after the Ribas fight before agreeing to terms with BKFC, but ended up choosing to sign with the most accomplish Bare Knuckle company.
VanZant has competed in the octagon as a strawweight and flyweight. BKFC’s current currently promotes a women’s division, whose champ, Bec Rawlings, lost to VanZant by KO in the UFC in 2016.
