“Go talk to the owner”- Paige VanZant reveals how she bagged a big spot on the AEW roster
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Paige VanZant
Former UFC strawweight, current AEW superstar and BKFC fighter Paige Vanzant is all about trying out everything in her power and adding up to her resume as much as possible before it’s time for her to retire from the sports entertainment industry. VanZant, who rose to fame during her time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competed on the biggest stage of the mixed-martial-arts competition from 2014 to 2020 sharing Octagon with the likes of Rose Namajunas, Michelle Waterson, Amanda Ribas, and many more.
VanZant secured her victory in MMA against the likes of Bec Rawlings, Felice Herrig and many more. VanZant then moved on to compete in the bare-knuckle fighting championship [BKFC] where she has an 0-2 record as a result, however with exciting fights in the process. Now, VanZant, 28, has also become a household name on the roster of professional wrestling giant All Elite Wrestling (AEW). VanZant is indirectly still intact with MMA as her husband Austin Vanderford competes in the middleweight division of Bellator MMA.
Paige Vanzant spoke outwardly about her stance during the AEW-BKFC deal
In an interview at MMA Fighting’s The Fighter and the Writer with Damon Martin, VanZant talks about how leaving UFC made her professional life lucrative financially, her potential return to BKFC, and her run in AEW and much more. VanZant begins talking about how she managed to get a deal with BKFC and AEW to let her compete in both promotions simultaneously.
“It was something I told my manager,” says VanZant “Like hey, these are the things I want to accomplish this year and this was on the list and then after Dan [Lambert, founder of MMA’s American Top Team and heel at AEW] had started bringing me out to kind of have his back on a few things and make a statement for American Top Team. It was a pretty easy conversation I think both sides were pretty well aware of where I belonged and it was on their roster,” she concluded.
What do you make of the flexibility of AEW and BKFC to let Paige VanZant make her presence feel on both of their platforms? Do you think the UFC should allow their fighters as well for competing across a different promotion, maybe in another sport if not in MMA? How do you think one can run a successful business whilst giving its employees all the flexibility to explore their options with the security of not losing employment?
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)