Of all the destinations fighting fans expecting Paige VanZant – when one of the most recognizable athletes on the UFC roster reached free agency last summer – Bare Knuckle FC wasn’t quite on the radar.
That is forgivable. It wasn’t exactly on her either.
“No, not at all,” VanZant told The Post by telephone on Tuesday. ‘I’ve always thought of it [bare knuckle boxing] as something I would like to do, but I didn’t know it would be my home. I didn’t know they were going to be such a big player in the negotiation process, and they ended up becoming one of the biggest players. “
And yet with nine fights with an 8-5 mark in MMA, the UFC veteran will take to the ring for Friday night’s BKFC pay-per-view headliner (FITE TV, 9:00 PM) without gloves, taking on Britain Hart in Tampa, Fla., in an event called KnuckleMania.
Leaving the UFC, the best MMA promotion, was not necessarily a shock. Many predicted that VanZant, whose name carries weight with casual and non-fighting fans thanks to her success on reality competition shows “Dancing With the Stars” and “Chopped,” would join husband Austin Vanderford under the banner of Bellator. While she notes that she respects the offer she received from one of the two best post-UFC MMA outfits and other potential suitors, she is unlikely to compete with what BKFC brought to the table.
With new management negotiating this deal than previously agreed with the UFC, VanZant secured what manager Malki Kawa referred to last August as “ a multi-million dollar deal and we’re not even talking about the sprinkles and cherries that were get on top of it. sundae. ”
“On top of their great offering, it was exactly where my passion lay,” said VanZant. “I thought how exciting it would be to call myself a professional bare knuckle boxer. It’s the one that I felt would make me stand out, and this is what will make me the worst, because I’m in this organization. “
Few athletes in martial arts – especially in MMA – are able to secure seven-figure contracts. But VanZant’s status as a crossover star makes her a bit of a unicorn in this world. Where most fighters could only dream of such a massive fight purse, the 26-year-old’s reality is that she can make a lot of money outside of the fight too.
When asked if she could have turned down such a lucrative offer, she agreed that she could have, based on confidence in her ability to make the most of the opportunities. She cited a separate million dollar deal that her manager struck for her earlier this year, a testament to the strength that carries her name at the negotiating table.
“I’m lucky to have made every dollar I get. I fought for it, ”said VanZant. “I’ve done everything I can to build my brand, and I know I bring a lot to Bare Knuckle, but also that they bring me a lot for what I bring.”
VanZant wants to be clear that she won’t “point the finger and talk negatively about the UFC” because of dissatisfaction with her latest contract. Instead, she says it was necessary to hit the open market to gauge her value and find what she considered appropriate compensation, something she says her previous management negotiated on her behalf failed to do.
“It was a contract that was being negotiated for me,” she said. “I wasn’t happy with it then, and now I have one that’s better.”
Friday’s debut marks the first of four contracted bouts with BKFC. Unlike her experience with MMA, only her bare fists are weapons. That means no elbows, kicks or knees, which VanZant says she will miss to some extent – particularly strikes from Muay Thai, which she has “gained a passion for in recent years.” No wrestling either, which takes away her strengths in creating scrambles and working for entries and ground attacks on the mat. On the plus side, there is no threat from the takedown, which she admits was part of her struggles during several UFC setbacks.
“Only my down defense was my biggest downfall,” said VanZant. “… It got to the point where a lot of my opponents could just take me out at will, and I wasn’t really able to make any progress in my struggles to take over.”
However, she expressed confidence in the coaching staff of the American Top Team, where she currently trains, as they are able to take her defensive wrestling to the next level if she gets back into MMA competition. And that possibility, she says, is offered to her by her BKFC contract, so the door is not closed to the sport.
With Hart fighting her primary focus, she hasn’t trained more MMA than helping other women in the gym. Instead, she hone her boxing technique to “close the hole in my percussion for this transition.”
One thing that VanZant does not worry about is the lack of gloves. She is no stranger to being punched or cut open in the face. She also downplayed the difference between MMA gloves and no gloves at all, even less of a factor in this smaller, feather-light competition.
“My MMA gloves in which I fight for the UFC are small,” said VanZant. “I think the risk of being cut open is a lot higher, but I think you can handle anything.”
Hart is 4-4-3 as a boxer, as well as 1-2 in bare knuckles – with a total of four knockout wins in both sports. VanZant praised Hart’s toughness as something that “carried her through a lot of fights.”
While VanZant’s standout game was not known in MMA for its boxing base, she believes viewers will be surprised at how far she has come in the sweet science.
“I think they’ll see a technical boxer out there, someone who really developed my standout game,” said VanZant. “I have changed a lot in my fighting style. I’ve really been able to focus on one skill, and focusing on one skill for so long will definitely show the growth I’ve made. “