Paige VanZant’s BKFC options after Knucklemania

The dust has already settled on BKFC Knucklemania with Britain Hart emerging with the lopsided decision victory over promotional debutant Paige VanZant in the main event. In the wake of being defeated in her ballyhooed welcome to the organization, Paige VanZant’s BKFC options going ahead are curious.

Paige VanZant briefly said she contemplated halting her fight career but that her focus was redirected back to competition in short order.

PVZ’s future in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is not kaput. At least not nearly to the degree I’ve seen some posit.

Many overly fixated on Britain Hart’s 1-2 BKFC record heading into Friday night. Without any contextual consideration for the fact that she has contended for the Police Gazette world women’s featherweight title. An outing that ended in a controversial split decision loss to Bec Rawlings. Where many thought Hart should have become champion at BKFC 2.

To that point, I think VanZant can regroup and has some interesting options that still exist for the remaining three fights on her bare-knuckle boxing contract.

Paige VanZant’s BKFC options

Sheena Starr

This is a 1-2 BKFC fighter that makes sense for VanZant with the appropriate consideration for context.

Sheena Starr is presently ranked #5 in the Knucklepedia BKFC rankings. Starr is looking to rebound in her own right as she’s coming off of back to back defeats to Delany Owen and Jenny Savage, respectively.

Starr vs VanZant can also serve to flesh out more of a defined divisional hierarchy.

Britain Hart vs Jenny Savage is seemingly being targeted next in what could be a possible title eliminator. Also, names like Christine Ferea and Helen Peralta are situated at the championship contention tier presently.

Randine Eckholm

Randine Eckholm and Paige VanZant are 0-1 on the BKFC circuit. Also, both are coming off of defeats to Britain Hart in their last bare-knuckle boxing outings.

The storyline is pretty clear here. A chance to notch their first BKFC victory and the potential redemption of punching their ticket for a rematch with Hart.

Delaney Bailey (previously Delaney Owen)

A switch from 125 lbs to 115 lbs makes a degree of sense, on paper, for PVZ. This with the backdrop of most of VanZant’s MMA experience coming in that lower weight category.

With Bailey being the top-ranked 115 pounder in BKFC per the Knucklepedia rankings, this bout could present a chance for VanZant to turn things around in a big way.

One of the unavoidable hurdles in the way of this is PVZ’s seeming lack of interest in returning to 115 lbs. This is due to an ever growing arduousness with that weight cut per VanZant herself.

What do you expect next from Paige VanZant in her bare-knuckle boxing journey?

For other post-BKFC Knucklemania content, check out the video below

Dylan Bowker

I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.

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