VANCOUVER – Paige VanZant learned a few things during her much-publicized stint on “Dancing With The Stars” earlier this year. Among those realizations was her belief she’s not compensated particularly well for her craft.
VanZant (6-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who fights for the first time this year on Saturday at UFC on FOX 21 in a strawweight showdown with Bec Rawlings (7-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC), was surrounded by other athletes and celebrities during her “Dancing With the Stars” run, on which she was the runner-up. On top of being financially compensated for her strong run on the show, VanZant learned through interacting with fellow cast members that her rewards for stepping in the octagon aren’t as good as they could be.
“12 Gauge” received $40,000 for her most recent bout, a fifth-round submission loss to Rose Namajunas at UFC Fight Night 80 in December. She would have earned double that amount with a win, and though she expressed gratitude for her contract, she also knows there’s room for improvement, especially in the fallout of Conor McGregor’s record $3 million payday for his victory over Nate Diaz (who made $2 million) at UFC 202.
“Hopefully (McGregor’s purse) means us other fighters are going to get a little bit bigger paychecks,” VanZant told reporters at today’s UFC on FOX 21 open workouts. “Definitely going through ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ I got to see what other athletes out there make, and I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t make that much money.’ But I still feel blessed to be part of the UFC. They pay me better than any other job I’ve had, so I feel blessed.”
UFC on FOX 21 takes place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. VanZant vs. Rawlings takes place on the FOX-televised main card following prelims on FOX and UFC Fight Pass.
VanZant, 22, could have found more alternative means of income after “Dancing With the Stars,” but said she “missed the violence” of MMA competition, and that’s what brought her back instead of taking other opportunities. She’s still leaving the door open for more dancing, acting and whatever else may come on the horizon. However, she said fighting for the UFC is still her top priority.
“I just took a short break and went to ‘Dancing With The Stars,’” VanZant said. “A lot of fighters have longer breaks than I do and they don’t get to do an experience like that or (have) a huge blessing like that. I just felt like hopefully ‘Dancing With the Stars’ brought a few new fans over that will come watch me fight on Saturday.”
VanZant’s return fight will be no walk in the park. Rawlings is a gritty opponent who enters the 115-pound bout with back-to-back victories on her record and has won fights by a variety of methods. She’s also the physically larger fighter compared to VanZant, but VanZant doesn’t believe that will come into play in the fight.
“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue,” VanZant said. “I fought really big fighters. Felice Herrig was definitely a bigger opponent than me. Some of my other fights that weren’t with the UFC, I’ve fought people that were much, much bigger than me. I train with all guys that were fighting in the 125-(pound) division. I don’t have to change anything about my camp.”
By the time VanZant steps in the octagon for UFC on FOX 21 it will have been more than eight months since she competed. She’s had longer breaks, but this one was filled with commitments outside of fighting. VanZant hasn’t allowed herself to get distracted by it, though, she said. And while many recent months were spent on “Dancing With the Stars,” VanZant believes a more improved version of herself will be on display come fight night.
“I’ve definitely improved a lot with the technique and the thing with combat sports is, when you don’t give yourself those breaks you’re constantly putting wear and tear on your body,” VanZant said. “Luckily, I’m very young and I can recover and bounce back quickly. But having those few months off with ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ I was able to heal minor injuries I was pushing through fight camp with. Now I didn’t have to deal with those.”
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