Of all the fight destinations fans had come to expect for Paige VanZant – when one of the most recognized athletes in the UFC squad arrived at the free agency last summer – Bare Knuckle FC was not really on the radar.
This is forgivable. It wasn’t exactly hers either.
“No, not at all,” VanZant told The Post by phone on Tuesday. “I always thought of [bare knuckle boxing] as something I would like to do, but I didn’t know it would be my home. I didn’t know that they would play such an important role in the negotiation process and ended up being one of the biggest. “
And yet, the UFC veteran of nine fights with an 8-5 MMA mark will enter the ring for the BKFC pay-per-view headlining on Friday night (FITE TV, 9 pm) without gloves, facing off Britain Hart in Tampa, Florida, at an event called KnuckleMania.
The fact that she left the UFC, the main MMA promotion, was not necessarily a shock. Many predicted that VanZant, whose name has weight among casual fans and non-fighters, thanks to his success in the reality shows “Dancing With the Stars” and “Chopped”, would join her husband Austin Vanderford under the banner of Bellator. Noting that she respects the offer she received from one of the two best MMA outfits after the UFC and other suitors, it is unlikely that she competed with what BKFC brought to the table.
With the new management negotiating this deal than the one previously negotiated with the UFC, VanZant guaranteed what entrepreneur Malki Kawa referred to last August as “a multimillion dollar deal and we’re not even talking about the sprinkles and cherries that go on the top sundae. ”
“In addition to his incredible offer, that was exactly where my passion was,” said VanZant. “I thought about how exciting it would be to call myself a professional boxer. It is the one in which I felt that it would stand out, and this is what will make me the toughest being in this organization. “
Few athletes in combat sports – especially in MMA – manage to close seven-digit contracts. But VanZant’s status as a crossover star makes her a bit like a unicorn in this world. Considering that most fighters could only dream of a huge fight bag, it is the reality of 26 years old that she can earn a lot of money out of combat as well.
Asked if she could have turned down such a lucrative offer, she agreed that it was, based on confidence in her ability to make the most of the opportunities. She cited another million-dollar deal that her manager secured for her earlier this year, proof of the strength her name carries on the negotiating table.
“I am lucky to have won every dollar I am getting. I fought for it, ”said VanZant. “I did everything possible to build my brand and I know that I am bringing a lot to Bare Knuckle, just as they bring me a lot for what I am bringing.”
VanZant wants to make it clear that he is not “pointing fingers and speaking negatively about the UFC” because he is unhappy with his last contract. Instead, she says it took her to reach the open market to assess her value and find what she considered appropriate compensation, something she says her previous administration, which negotiated on her behalf, was unable to do.
“It was a negotiated contract for me,” she said. “I was not happy with that at the time, and now I have one that is better.”
Friday’s debut marks the first of four fights contracted by BKFC. Contrary to his experience in MMA, only bare fists are weapons. This means that there will be no elbows, kicks or knees, which VanZant says he will miss using, to a certain extent – particularly Muay Thai blows, for which she “has gained a passion in recent years”. Without a fight too, which removes its forces in creating scrambles and working for submissions and ground strikes on the carpet. On the positive side, there is no threat of falling, which she admits to having been part of her fight in several UFC setbacks.
“Only my fall defense was my biggest fall,” said VanZant. “… I got to the point where many of my opponents were able to simply take me down at will, and I really wasn’t able to make progress in my wrestling to take control.”
She, however, expressed confidence in the American Top Team coaching staff, where she currently trains, as able to take her defensive fight to the next level if she finds herself in an MMA competition again. And that option, she says, is offered to her by her BKFC contract, so the door has not been closed for the sport.
With the fight against Hart as her main focus, she has not trained MMA other than helping other women in the gym. Instead, she refines her boxing technique to “close the gap in my striking for this transition”.
One thing VanZant is not concerned about is the lack of gloves. She is no stranger to being punched or cut in the face. She also minimized the difference between MMA gloves and no gloves at all, even less in this smaller, lightweight fight.
“My MMA gloves that I fight in the UFC are tiny,” said VanZant. “I think the risk of being cut is much greater, but I think you can handle anything.”
Hart is 4-4-3 as a boxer, as well as 1-2 in knockout fights – with a total of four knockout wins in both sports. VanZant talked a lot about Hart’s toughness as something that “sustained her in many fights”.
Although VanZant’s striking game in MMA is not known for its boxing base, she believes viewers will be surprised at how far she has advanced in sweet science.
“I think they will see a technical boxer, someone who really developed my striking game,” said VanZant. “I changed my fighting style a lot. I was able to really focus on one skill, and when you focus on one skill for so long, it will definitely show the growth I’ve made. “