Paige VanZant on her fighting career: 'When it stops being fun, I'll quit'
When Paige VanZant appeared on "Dancing with the Stars" earlier this year a lot of the questions she received during filming regarded her future as a mixed martial artist.
At just 22 years old, VanZant's career in the UFC had barely just started but the mainstream appeal she received from the reality show competition somehow put into question whether or not she was going to return to the Octagon.
VanZant answered those inquiries with an emphatic knockout over Bec Rawlings in her return fight this past Augsut and it didn't take her long to book a main event bout against Michelle Waterson for her adopted hometown of Sacramento for this Saturday night.
There's no doubt VanZant could probably transition into a career on television or movies or even modeling, but no matter what anybody else might think, she's a fighter through and through.
"It's really funny to me because people have injuries or people take longer breaks in between fights than I did. I had eight months, I've seen people take a lot longer than that off," VanZant told the Fight Society podcast about her break from fighting.
"What I found so humorous was nobody questioned Antonio Brown if he was going to leave the Steelers. Nobody asked Von Miller if he was going to retire from the NFL. I feel like people look at fighters or maybe they look at me different than a professional athlete. So it did feel really good to go out there and get such a dominant win."
VanZant will never deny that her goals in life far exceed just having success in the UFC and that's why she's continued to dabble in other outside projects whenever she doesn't have a fight just around the corner.
VanZant is currently working on her memoir and she's also expressed interest in pursuing acting roles as well but more than anything right now she just loves being a fighter.
"I just feel like for me it is just about having fun. This is a fun sport for me and when it stops being fun, I'll quit," VanZant said. "Right now I love what I do and I love being a fighter. I just want to go out there and have fun and not put too much pressure on myself to be anything that I'm not. To put too much pressure on me that if I can't win this, I can't go for a title shot or if I win this I have to go straight for a title shot. I think people look too much into it.
"I just like to have fun. Whatever fight I take, I'm definitely going to go out there really hard and going to go out there and try to win because I have a very, very high competitive side so that's pretty much it. I love what I do."
For her bout this weekend, VanZant accepted a matchup with Waterson for several reasons, but at the top of the list was competing in front of the Sacramento crowd in her second main event spot as a UFC fighter.
According to the official UFC rankings, Waterson is lower in the top 15 than VanZant, but she doesn't buy those numbers as an accurate representation of the kind of challenge she's about to face.
"Michelle Waterson, I do think is under ranked," VanZant said. "She was the Invicta atomweight champion so I think people forget about that, that she was a champion in a very successful division for Invicta.
"So I do think she's the most talented person I fought and I think she's the most athletic person I've ever fought so it's going to be a big test for me. I'm going to fight this fight with a completely different approach than I did the fight with Bec (Rawlings). I am really, really excited about this fight. In the back of my mind, I kind of always knew me and her were going to fight and it's the perfect timing."
VanZant is best known for her high paced, high pressure attack but whether Waterson gets finished in the first round or hangs around for all 25 minutes, she promises this is going to be a show everybody is going to want to watch.
"I'm ready for five rounds, I'm ready for one round, too. Wherever it goes, I feel really confident," VanZant said. "I feel ready for this fight. I have a good matchup, good opponent, so I'm excited."
