'Without a doubt'… Paige VanZant's BKFC future made clear following MMA comeback announcment
01/04/2025 06:43 AM
Former UFC star Paige VanZant is set to have a very busy year in 2025.
The 30-year-old fan favorite recently revealed that she will be returning to MMA with Global Fight League in April.
Before that, she’ll take a third Power Slap fight after making two appearances in Dana White’s league last year.
Paige VanZant is also tied to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. When she left the UFC in 2020, ’12 Guage’ inked a lucrative three-fight deal with the promotion co-owned by Conor McGregor – she’s had two BKFC fights since then.
Will Paige VanZant fight for BKFC in 2025?
VanZant suffered two defeats when she crossed over to bare-knuckle boxing in 2021.
Still, she’s expected to return to the ring to complete her contract at some point this year.
BKFC boss Dave Feldman says VanZant is very much in his plans for the first half of 2025.
"[Paige] was actually at that fight at Hard Rock last week and we talked," Feldman told MMA Fighting.
"I said, 'What's up, are we going to do this or what?' She said, 'I've got one more fight on my contract, let's go.'
"I know she's talking about some other fight, possibly first, so that could be what she's talking about, but absolutely Paige is in the early 2025 plans without a doubt. She's game for it, we're game for it."
BKFC has gone from strength to strength in recent years and VanZant deserves some credit for that.
The uber-popular MMA fighter was the first big star to take a chance by signing for Feldman’s company.
He added: "Look, I never forget what people did for us.
“Although we paid her 10 times what she got paid in the UFC, she moved the needle for us. She was a big-time needle mover for us. Because people are like, 'Paige VanZant's fighting bare-knuckle? That's crazy, right?' I'll never forget that.
"Certainly, she's coming back at least for one more fight, 100 percent in early 2025."
Paige VanZant explains MMA comeback
It’s been almost five years since VanZant last competed under the MMA ruleset.
In October, VanZant essentially retired from the sport as she insisted a comeback would be ‘hard’ after breaking her arm five times and undergoing a bunch of surgeries to fix it.
Just a few months later, she’s signed with a new MMA promotion and has started preparing to make a sensational return to the sport that made her famous.
What’s changed? VanZant simply says that GFL made her an offer so good she had to accept it.
"I'm changing gears again. I'm going to shock the world again,” she said on her podcast.
"I'm lucky I'm in such a good position that I do get a lot of opportunities that I get to wade through and pick what kind of sparks my interest the most and what's the most exciting.
"Yeah, I think that I'm stepping back into the world of MMA.
"They offered me a contract and I said, 'Yes'. So, I'm going back to MMA, and I think this is the perfect opportunity because I definitely didn't leave MMA because I wasn't passionate about it anymore.
"Now there's this new MMA organization that actually made me really excited to fight for them. They are legit paying their athletes. Everyone that I've heard that has negotiated their contracts so far is extremely excited and happy.
"They're doing a pension fund for the fighters, and I think health insurance… You just never know when it's over, so I wanna do everything I can to make the most money while I can, and be able to provide for my family forever."
