Ex-UFC star Paige VanZant unsure of MMA return: ‘It would be hard for me to go back’

Former UFC strawweight and flyweight contender, Paige VanZant has failed to completely rule out a return to mixed martial arts competition in the future — claiming it would be “hard” for her to enter a cage again, listing the slew of arm injuries she has suffered during competition.

VanZant, who is still currently signed to the BKFC (Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship), will make her sophomore appearance next week in Power Slap, taking on Christine Volmarans back in June, and earning a unanimous decision win in controversial circumstances.

Returning in the Middle East next week, Oregon native, VanZant will take on Chelsea Dodson at a Power Slap 9 event.

And without a walk to the cage since her 2020 appearance on ‘Fight Island’ in Abu Dhabi, VanZant, a former contender at the strawweight limit in the UFC, suffering a one-sided armbar submission defeat to Amanda Ribas, before suffering back-to-back decision losses to both Britain Hart and then Rachael Ostovich in her two outings with the BKFC.

Paige VanZant casts doubt on ever returning to MMA

Discussing a potential return to mixed martial arts competition ahead of her Power Slap return next year, VanZant claimed that while he could never be sure if her time inside a cage had come to an end, she cast severe doubt on her strapping on gloves again in the future.

“I don’t ever like to say I’m closing the door 100 percent, but I do see it would be hard for me to go back into MMA,” Paige VanZant told MMA Junkie. “Not because I don’t love it or not because I don’t have a passion for it still, but like I said, I broke my arm five times in my life and four times in basically two years of competing.”

“I had two surgeries on it, and I still have a huge plate that runs the length of my entire forearm,” Paige VanZant explained. “So just going back to that place of risking breaking my arm again and having surgery again and getting set back, I can still have the thrill of competing, and I can still get that rush without putting my body at risk. One I’m fine if I break my arm, it’s really just the mental fortitude, I don’t know if I can push through that again. It was a really, really rough few years.”