Paige VanZant is expected to make her Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) debut in early-2021, but her husband in Austin Vanderford believes she’ll return to MMA someday.
Vanderford says that PVZ signed with the BKFC to make some changes to her career and improve her striking game.
“My wife did sign with Bare Knuckle,” he said to Yahoo Sports. "Of course I would be a liar if I said I didn’t want her to be here and join me in Bellator. But that decision took a lot of soul-searching for her. She felt at this point in her career she needed to make some changes to continue to compete with the top girls. What she’s going to do now will extend the longevity of her career. I know that sounds ironic since she’s going to fight in bare knuckle. But she’s only 26 and this gives her the opportunity to work on some things. Really work on her striking.”
VanZant holds a 9-6-0 record as a professional MMA fighter, with a 5-4-0 record under the UFC banner. The Bellator star knows that his wife is more than likely going to return to MMA in the future.
“[I know] she’s more than likely going to come back to MMA,” he said. “She wants to try and work on becoming a more well rounded fighter. “I’m biased, but in my opinion she will be one of the best [female fighters] in the world [when she does return].”
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