PVZ in talks to do bare knuckle boxing
Mediagenic flyweight Paige VanZant fought out her UFC contract in order to test free agency, but came up short in her final fight, getting armbarred by Amanda Rivas in the first. Now 26, PVZ says she putting off a planned surgery to have a plate in her arm removed, in order to fight again as soon as possible. Testing the market having gone 1-3 her last four is not the easiest sell.
It was assumed that she would be talking with ONE Championship and Bellator MMA, so it was a surprise when rumors emerged that she is in negotiation with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship president David Feldman.
Hearing Paige VanZant is close to finalizing a deal with @bareknucklefc.
— Mike Russell (@MIKERUSSELLMMA) July 29, 2020
Eric Kowal, who runs MyMMANews.com and as well works with BKFC, provided clarification.
There are talks, nothing close yet.
— Eric Kowal - MyMMANews.com (@MyMMANews) July 29, 2020
I can confirm there are talks. I work for the company. Just asked David about your tweet cause he asked me 2 weeks ago for thoughts on possibly signing her. Today he said there are talks but nothing close. Like you said "we'll see" but this is latest.
— Eric Kowal - MyMMANews.com (@MyMMANews) July 29, 2020
Olympian and ONE Championship and UFC vet Ben Askren was not impressed.
What’s worse doing bare knuckle boxing as a career or smoking crack? https://t.co/mJ13y9mVtw
— Bionic Ben (@Benaskren) July 29, 2020
BKFC has held 10 events to date, with a number of notable fighters including Artem Lobov, Ricco Rodriguez, Charles Bennett, Kendall Grove, Chris Lytle, Joe Riggs, Leonard Garcia, Joey Beltran, Bec Rawlings, Shannon Ritch, Bobby Gunn, Paulie Malignaggi, and Chris Leben. It has the feel of the earliest days of MMA, with a new but ancient and raw ruleset, blood, controversy, and questions about legality. It remains to be seen if eventually goes mainstream.
PVZ certainly has the potential to bring attention to BKFC. What do you think UG?
