Paige VanZant’s journey from bullied ballet dancer to bare-knuckle boxer

Paige VanZant is set to make her return to bare-knuckle fighting tonight in an effort to earn her first win in the sport against Rachael Ostovich.

The ex-UFC fighter made the switch to BKFC earlier this year in a move that made her a career-high payday, but she lost her first fight in the sport to Britain Hart by unanimous decision.

Prior to making the move, VanZant had become popular for her ability to utilise her UFC-standard fighting skills and her model-looks to build a brand that made her a top star in combat sports.

But the Oregon native didn't have an easy ride to becoming the star she is today, dealing with a difficult upbringing that included bullying at a young age and sexual assault in her early teens.

Here is the story of one of bare-knuckle boxing's most well-known fighters…

Early life

Paige VanZant was born Paige Michael Slatten on March 24, 1994 in Dundee, Oregon.

She was brought up to be a dancer by her parents Steve and Rachel, who owned a studio that specialised in jazz, hip hop and ballet dancing.

She trained those styles of dancing for 13 years while growing up in the tiny town of Dundee, but was viewed as a tomboy by some of her schoolmates due to her interests in dirt bikes and fishing.

Her claim to fame as a youngster was an appearance in a television advertisement for Bissell, a cleaning company in America that produces mops.

She wouldn't find mixed martial arts until her later teenage years when her family moved to Sparks, Nevada.

Bullying and sexual assault

V anZant's life took a terrible turn when she was sexually assaulted at the age of 14, which led to such severe bullying that she considered suicide.

In her 2018 memoir Rise: Surviving the Fight of My Life, VanZant told of how she was gang-raped by a group of boys at a party after being plied with alcohol throughout the night.

"They move me around… they change my position," VanZant wrote in her autobiography. "I fail each time I try to resist, my limbs like wet cement on my body, my brain a heavy fog.

"I am awake and conscious, but my body feels dead. I know what is happening but can do nothing to stop it. I have no voice or choice but to submit and pray that it ends soon."

And when the story came out in school, it was rumoured that she had had sex with the multiple boys consensually, and bullies were merciless in their abuse.

On one occasion, her house had condoms hung outside it like ornaments, and girls would change her name from Slatten to Slutton.

The bullying was so bad that she contemplated ending her life, and changed her name from Slatten to VanZant.

Moving to MMA

When her family moved to Nevada, VanZant found herself in a mixed martial arts gym owned by legendary fighter Ken Shamrock, where she began training to fight.

She took an amateur bout at age 18 against Morgan Hunter at Ultimate Reno Combat, and decided that she would pursue the sport as a profession.

She made her professional debut against Jordan Gaza, who she beat by the split decision, and amassed a record of 3-1 before being snapped up by the UFC just two-and-a-half years after her amateur bow.

She defeated Amber Stautzenberger in her second fight before losing to eventual UFC star Tecia Torres in her third bout.

Her final regional level fight was against Courtney Himes, before she was signed to MMA's top promotion to face Kailin Curran in late 2014.

VanZant had to reschedule her debut due to a spinal injury, but managed to finally make her debut in November 2014.

UFC career

Paige VanZant emphatically announced her arrival on MMA's top stage with a third round TKO over Kailin Curran at UFC Fight Night 57 in Austin, Texas.

She followed it up with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Felice Herrig, who was a noted step up in experience from any of her previous opponents.

And after beating Alex Chambers with an armbar in the third round of their meeting at UFC 191, VanZant faced a tough test in The Ultimate Fighter finalist Rose Namajunas.

Namajunas had just lost a close fight with Carla Esparza in the TUF 20 finale that actually crowned the promotion's first strawweight champion, and was able to get the best of VanZant in what was the Oregon native's first main event.

Namajunas would go on to become a legendary two-time strawweight champion, and is currently the top dog in that division, while VanZant's career faltered from that point onwards.

She defeated Bec Rawlings in her next outing, but lost consecutive bouts to Muchelle Waterson and Jessica-Rose Clark over the next few years.

In 2016, her star-power hit a new level when she appeared on Dancing with the Stars, the American iteration of Strictly Come Dancing, where she finished second with partner Mark Ballas.

Her MMA career got back on track in 2019 with a win over her upcoming BKFC opponent Ostovich in 2019, but she was dropped from the UFC after losing to Amanda Ribas at UFC 251 last year.

Bare-knuckle boxing

VanZant made the switch to BKFC earlier this year, and has claimed that she earned more for her first with Britain Hart than a number of her UFC fights put together.

She lost her debut to Britain Hart, and considered retirement, but is now heading back to the squared circle to face former UFC foe Rachel Ostovich.

VanZant no longer needs to fight; she reportedly makes six figures a month from her subscription service 'PaigeFanZant', which is an OnlyFans-type page where fans can pay for content from the blonde bombshell.

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear our defeat without losing heart," she wrote on Instagram after losing her promotional debut.

"Last night I told my husband I didn’t want to fight any more but as soon as the words left my lips I knew that wasn’t true.

"I’m a fighter. This is what I live for. Losers quit when they fail, winners fail until they succeed. That fight last night was a good learning experience for me.

"The timing and distance took a little bit to figure out but I felt my last round was my best round and I’m going to build off of that!

"I’m thankful to fight for the best team in the world and we are going to go back and fix our mistakes. Thank you to Britain for competing last night and congrats on victory! I’m also confident we will cross paths again."

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