The final fight on Paige VanZant’s UFC contract at UFC 251 earlier this month turned out to be a big disappointment for the 26-year-old as she succumbed to a first round armbar submission against Amanda Ribas, but it appears to only have fueled her desire to get back in the cage again.
So much so in fact that PVZ has now revealed that she’s going to postpone going for yet another arm surgery in order to compete again sooner rather than later.
“I don’t want to have surgery again,” VanZant told MMA Fighting. “Before the fight, I had said I might need to have one more arm surgery to feel 100 percent, but even through this, I do feel 100 percent, and I’m hoping to sign a new fight promotion with somebody and fight this year if I can.”
its understandable that PVZ wouldn’t be in a rush to go under the knife again as the last few years of her career have largely been spent on the sidelines due to injuries, surgeries and other ailments, and combined with her desire to get back in the win column the thought of sitting out for even longer is not on her mind.
“I want to fight as soon as possible,” VanZant said. “In my mind, I’m going to go ahead and delete that last fight and start over. I don’t know how long this negotiation stuff goes.
“I’m hoping quick, cause I definitely don’t have any injuries. I don’t even know if I got hit, so I’m ready to fight again.”
Despite her recent setbacks, PVZ still appears upbeat and given that she’s still relatively young she believes that her best years lie ahead of her in the sport.
“I’m sad about the way it went, but this is the first time in my entire career where, I [usually] get emotional after losses, and most times I’ll cry for like a week, but this fight, I only cried for like an hour after the loss,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I finally realized the losses definitely don’t define you.
“Maybe I did have to hit rock bottom. It’s just going to make my comeback story that much greater coming off a loss and an arm injury, and I have 10-plus years to fight and show off how good I am.”
