Paige VanZant

Paige Michelle VanZant is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2012, VanZant was a fighter in Invicta FC before moving over to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is currently ranked #8 in the UFC Strawweight division.

After VanZant's family moved to Sparks, Nevada, VanZant was looking for a dance studio when came across UFC veteran Ken Shamrock's gym, where she began training in boxing and other martial arts. After winning an amateur fight at age 18, VanZant made her professional mixed martial arts debut on June 30, 2012, at UWF's Tournament of Warriors finale against Jordan Nicole Gaza in Corpus Christi, Texas, winning by split decision.

On September 22, 2012, she faced Amber Stautzenberger at Premier Fight Series 2 and won via unanimous decision.

In December 2013, VanZant was announced as one of 11 women signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for its newly created Strawweight division. It was also announced that she would compete as a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter (UFC), a television reality series, as part of a tournament to crown the inaugural strawweight champion. However, on March 31, 2014, VanZant was turned away from the reality series because she was only 20 years old, and the minimum age to compete on it is 21 due to the presence of alcohol in the house.

In August 2014, the UFC announced that VanZant would face Kailin Curran on October 4, 2014 in Halifax at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine, but VanZant suffered a back injury and the bout was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson. VanZant marked her UFC debut by defeating Curran by TKO in the third round, in a fight that would win Fight of the Night honors.

After defeating Kailin Curran, VanZant enjoyed an increase in popularity. In February 2015, VanZant was signed to a sponsorship deal with athletic footwear giant Reebok. This became a source of controversy due to her having only one UFC fight at the time. UFC president Dana White responded that she received the Reebok deal because of her "it" factor and personality.

VanZant faced Felice Herrig on April 18, 2015 in Newark, New Jersey at UFC on Fox: Machida vs. Rockhold. Following a competitive first round, VanZant eventually overwhelmed Herrig with her grappling, winning by unanimous decision.

She faced Alex Chambers on September 5, 2015 at UFC 191. After controlling most of the fight with aggressive strikes and grappling, she won via armbar submission in the third round.

VanZant signed a new contract with UFC on September 17, 2015. VanZant was expected to face Joanne Calderwood on December 10, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 80. However, Calderwood was pulled from the fight in October and replaced by Rose Namajunas. VanZant lost the one-sided fight via submission in the fifth round.