Paige VanZant Says BKFC Debut Was ‘Big Learning Process’, Eyes April Return
Paige VanZant lost her Bare Knuckle Fightinng Championship debut last weekend.
VanZant engaged in a five-round battle with opponent Britain Hart last Friday but ultimately lost a unanimous decision.
As the fight played out, VanZant was playing defense more than offense as she looked to avoid Hart’s relentless attack.
The past week has been one of reflection for the former UFC star, as VanZant explained that there was quite a learning curve for her in the ring last weekend.
“For me, honestly, there’s a few things I’m going to take away from it and go back to my gym and adjust and learn,” VanZant said on her Sirius XM show Knuckle Up Radio. “It was a really big learning process throughout the fight. As the rounds went, I feel I was kind of finding my rhythm and finding my groove and kind of understanding what was working, what wasn’t. Stepping into an entirely different sport really and not being able to fully train this sport unless you fight. You can’t really box bare-knuckle in the gym. It was an adjustment period.
“It sucks. It’s unfortunate. I’m not happy that I lost ever, it’s the biggest letdown in the world but I know it’s not going to shake me. It’s not going to define me. I know with my performance what I did wrong and I can go back and learn and get better and what an inspiration I hope to other people who are questioning if they belong in something or trying something new and have that question like ‘what if I fail?’ Yeah, what if you fail? It’s fine. It’s not a big deal. Failure happens everyday. It happens to some athletes on the biggest stages with the biggest audience and guess what? You go home to your family and you start over.”
“Definitely going into round five, I’ve definitely seen all the comments like ‘that was actually Paige fighting.’ That’s how I normally fight, especially when I was fighting for the UFC,” VanZant said. “It was a learning process. Every punch, it does feel different to get hit with a bare-knuckle versus a glove. It definitely didn’t hurt worse because I’ve been kicked and kneed in the face so it was more like worrisome, especially since there was no big screen I could look up at. Some of the punches I was like ‘crap, that cut me open.’ You can see me cuss like ‘F word’ because I thought one of the punches cut me open and I was so hesitant in the moment that I was getting cut open with these shots.
“Then of course going into the fifth round, it didn’t matter if I was cut open or not. I was going to go for broke and try to win and finish the fight. It was a big learning process.”
In the post fight Hart complimented VanZant while adding that she’s never been hit harder in her entire life. VanZant attributed a lot of props to Hart’s toughness, durability and the composure she showed during the fight while hoping that they will eventually meet again one day.
“I think me and her will cross paths again and I want that to be hopefully for a title. I think that fight should happen later in my career. I need to go get a few more wins and earn my shot against her again.”
VanZant has been adamant that joining BKFC was solely her decision and despite a loss in her debut, it’s only fueling her to come back that much better the next time.
“Losing sucks and it’s embarrassing and defeating but it’s a part of the process,” VanZant said. “If I quit right now, that would make me a loser but if I press on and keep training and pick myself up, that’s my inspiration story.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
While this loss is a tough one to swallow for VanZant, it certainly seems like she will be back in the BKFC ring sooner rather than later.
How did you think Paige VanZant looked in the ring in her BKFC debut? How do you see her doing in the future?
