VanZant details weight-cutting struggles that prompted move to 125 lbs
It turns out Paige VanZant suffered far more than a couple of defeats while competing as a strawweight.
The 23-year-old joined "The MMA Hour" on Tuesday ahead of her flyweight debut opposite Jessica Eye at UFC 216, and revealed her last few cuts down to 115 pounds had been far from kind to her, with her most recent struggles nearly scrapping last December's bout with Michelle Waterson.
"It's a big cut for me," VanZant said, per MMA Fighting's Marc Raimondi. "I’m a lot heavier than people realize. I was honestly killing myself for this sport. In my last I want to say two fights or three fights, I’ve passed out in my bathroom. This last one, I passed out and had the doctors almost not clear me for the fight."
VanZant is just one of several UFC fighters to have already made the move to the promotion's newly launched weight class - her next opponent included - and with its inaugural champ less than three months away from being crowned, the Oregon native thought there was no time like the present to spare her body the grueling weight cuts and move up to 125 pounds.
"The 125 division is finally getting built, so it just made sense for me to try it out. I’m moving up. I’m a big advocate for body positivity and I was putting myself through an eating disorder to make weight. And it became not fun for me anymore. I hate cutting. I hated the process. Obviously, passing out on your bathroom floor is not fun, because you’re dying in a bathtub."
The UFC vet's pair of submission losses and opportunities outside the cage have prompted many to question her dedication to her fighting career, but she maintained that not only was an early exit the furthest thing from her mind during her strawweight stint, but that we have yet to see the best of her in the Octagon.
"I’m not going anywhere. People are crazy if they think that I’m quitting this game. I'm not going anywhere. I plan on fighting for a long time. I'm a fighter first. Of course I'm gonna pursue other opportunities that are coming my way, because they're amazing and I would never pass up something that I’m still passionate about it. But I’m a fighter, first and foremost."
She meets Eye on Oct. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.