Paige VanZant claims a regular job would pay the same as the UFC
UFC returns this weekend for the biggest card all year at Fight Island. There will be three titles on the line but for Paige VanZant she will be fighting for her future.
Paige enters the Octagon for the ninth fight in her UFC career and will mark the last fight on her current contract. Paige believes she is undervalued and will look to test free agency afterward.
“I feel like I am betting on myself here,” VanZant told MMA Fighting. “You don’t know your value until you test it. I want to know what people see my value as.
“I feel like more than ever, especially with me hurting myself, that if I’m going to be a professional fighter, I need it to be worth it for me. It needs to be worth me breaking my arm everyday and walking into the cage and bleeding and sacrificing.”
Image via Tapology
Paige shed some light on her current contact and the reason for her discontent regarding pay. VanZant has been inconsistent over the past few years after suffering a broken arm in her debut fight at flyweight against Jessica-Rose Clark back in 2018.
Paige feels she is massively underpaid and believes she could have made the exact amount of money outside of the UFC.
“I’ve added up all the money I’ve made in the UFC over six years, and I could have just had a regular job with the same pay,” VanZant said. “I’m so thankful for everything the UFC has done for me, the platform they’ve given me. This is nothing against the UFC. But the contract I signed is what I signed and I know I need to honor it. That’s why I’m fighting this last fight out and I was never trying to break it early.
“It’s important to fight this fight out, honor my contract, and then say listen this is my value and this is what I need to be paid to make it worth it.”
Paige has had reoccurring issues with her arm and according to VanZant the UFC has stopped covering her medical bills. The bills have taken a toll on her bank account as well.
“If I have any more problems with my arm, they aren’t covered by the UFC,” VanZant explained. “They only cover up to a year after your injury date and then you have to pay. I don’t have my own health insurance, which is awful, but it’s expensive.
“A year after my injury, I went to go get another doctor’s opinion for my arm to make sure it’s all good and they’re like ‘your insurance is not covered anymore because the UFC only covers up to a year after your injury date.’ So I was like oh no, here we go. Now I have to think about getting health insurance to cover my arm injury that I broke in the UFC.”
Paige has been very successful outside the UFC in ventures such as modeling and social media. Paige also earned runner-up on her appearance on the hit tv show Dancing with the Stars. Her biggest passion is fighting but Paige wants to have financial security if she’s going to continue pursuing a fighting career.
“It is fun for me,” VanZant said about fighting. “I do love what I do but it has to be worth it for your future, for your career, for your family. For being a woman, I want to be a mom, too. There’s a timeframe on that. My career, yes I can come back after having kids but there’s other factors like I need make enough money to be able to take time off and have kids.
“There’s so many factors and I think it’s important we’re getting paid what we’re bleeding and breaking for.”
Image via mn2s
Many fighters have also publicly expressed displeasure regarding pay. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been sidelined following his dispute with the UFC over a contract dispute. Jorge Masvidal also decided to sit out until he was paid his worth.
As more fighters speak out, Paige is aware it is going to take more than a few high profile fighters to make a drastic change.
“People just need to pay attention, we are sacrificing day in and day out and we feel we need to be paid our true value,” VanZant said. “That’s pretty much it.
“I love the UFC. I love fighting for them. They’ve given me so many opportunities but I’m trying to set up a future for myself. I’m not trying to compare myself to any other fighter. I’m not saying I deserve more than any other UFC fighter. I think we all deserve more. We all deserve to be paid more.”
This weekend will mark the last fight on her contact. Paige will look to perform for the UFC to show her worth and ride that momentum into contract negotiations.
“I wanted to fight somebody who was really good,” VanZant said. “Somebody who was ranked. Someone who it really mattered when I beat them.
“This is the last fight on my UFC contract and I want to be able to go to the UFC and be like ‘listen, this is how good I am. Yeah you haven’t seen me fight in a while and I break my arm a lot and I’ve always done always done other things but ultimately I’m a good fighter.’ I think this is a fight if I beat Amanda, it will prove that.”
