Ex-UFC Star Paige VanZant Set for MMA Return after Signing with New Promotion

Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant inks deal with GFL and plans to fight MMA for the first time since 2020.

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After nearly five years away, Paige VanZant is making her return to MMA.

VanZant found fame in the UFC at 20 years old, winning her first three fights and establishing herself as one of WMMA's top prospects for a time. However, the two-time UFC Fight Night headliner didn't live up to the hype, going 5-4 in the promotion before becoming a free agent after her last fight in 2020.

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"I'm Stepping Back Into The World Of MMA..."

From BKFC to Misfits Boxing to Dana White's Power Slap, VanZant hasn't stayed in one lane when it comes to combat sports, but she's on her way back to MMA as the latest fighter to sign with Global Fight League (GFL) - a new team-based league promotion, which has already signed a number of ex-UFC names.

"I'm lucky I'm in such a good position that I do get a lot of opportunities," VanZant said on her podcast A Kickass Love Story. "I get to kinda like wade through and pick what sparked my interest the most, what's the most exciting and yeah, I think I'm stepping back into the world of MMA."

Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

"12 Gauge" Locked And Loaded For GFL

In her absence from MMA, VanZant has fought in bare-knuckle and Power Slap twice, even fighting OnlyFans star Elle Brooke to a draw in her boxing debut last May.

"They offered me a contract and I said yes," VanZant said of the GFL. "Going back to MMA, and I think this is the perfect opportunity because I didn't necessarily leave MMA, I definitely didn't leave MMA because I wasn't passionate about it anymore. But leaving, when I became a free agent outside of the UFC, the biggest offer that came in was bareknuckle boxing. They were the ones that presented the best offer to me."

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The GFL is the new kid on the block so to speak, with the new MMA promotion offering contracts to a slew of stars - many of them years removed from their primes, but stars nonetheless. The GFL plans to do a 50-50 revenue share with its fighters, their official draft commencing later this month to get things going.

"Now there's this new MMA organization that actually made me really excited to fight for them. The way they're doing it, they're legit paying their athletes," VanZant said. "Everybody I've heard that's negotiated their contract so far is extremely excited and like happy. I don't know the logistics behind the scenes, but they're doing like a pension for the fighters and I think like health insurance."

"12 Gauge" Paige VanZant made her professional MMA debut in 2012 and hasn't competed since a 2020 loss to Amanda Ribas. The 30-year-old is 8-5 as a pro with wins over Felice Herrig, Bec Rawlings, and Rachael Ostovich in the UFC Octagon.

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