- Born
- Birth namePaige Michelle VanZant
- Nickname
- 12 Gauge
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- Born March 26, 1994, Paige Michelle VanZant grew up in the small northwest town of Dayton, Oregon. A tomboy, she got her first ATV at the age of 8, enjoyed fishing and hunting with her father, and routinely got into boxing matches with her brother and the neighborhood boys.
Her parents owned a dance studio and VanZant excelled at the art, dancing competitively for 13 years. A natural athlete, she became a varsity cheerleader in high school as an underclassman where she began to be bullied and harassed by her peers. The incidents became so rampant that she eventually contacted the authorities on how to best deal with the situation. One of the responding officers suggested she learn self-defense. Shortly after this incident her family relocated to Reno, Nevada where VanZant took the officer's advice and enrolled in boxing classes.
A brilliant student, she began taking college courses at the age of 16 and received her GED two years ahead of schedule. During this time her father suggested she try MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and she invested herself fully in the discipline. She is noted for her constant pressure and aggressive grappling style of fighting and has a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
VanZant has stated that continuous bullying in high school left her ashamed of her looks, but that with fighting she found self-confidence and has become a stronger person for it. Because of her personal experiences, she is an outspoken advocate against bullying.
In 2012 VanZant made her pro MMA debut and began to garner attention. In 2013 she was slated to appear on The Ultimate Fighter television series but had to pull out due to age restrictions since she was only 20 years old.
At the age of 20, VanZant made her UFC Strawweight debut on November 22, 2014 where she defeated Kailin Curran in stunning fashion by TKO in the third round. She is one of the youngest fighters to receive the Fight of the Night award.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Cheryl Delany
- SpouseAustin Vanderford(September 2018 - present)
- Won her UFC debut at the age of 20. The fight received Fight of the Night honors.
- I put a lot of pressure on myself just because I hate losing more than I love to win.
- There's just something about fighting that just makes sense for me. I do it because of the fun, the thrill behind it... the adrenaline. I guess I'm an adrenaline junkie.
- I was bullied in high school. I went through a very traumatic freshman year. And I want to be a voice for all the girls out there that went through similar stories, or went through similar trials. I lost my voice at that time and I lost completely who I was, and I was able to find that through fighting. And I just want to be a positive role model and show that just because your world is crumbling at that point and time, there's always a future to look forward to.
- I made a lot of sacrifices to be where I am, obviously. I moved out and on my own since I was 18. I kinda left everybody behind just to make this a career. So everything really finally paid off for me.
- Once I found fighting, I knew I had to follow in Ronda's [Ronda Rousey] footsteps. I saw her career develop from the ground stages. Ronda's really opened the doors for women's MMA. Dana [Dana White] said there would never be women in the UFC and because of Ronda, there now are, and I have to be completely thankful for her. And if she wouldn't have created such an amazing 135 division, then it wouldn't have opened the doors for the 115 division.
- UFC 191: Johnson vs. Dodson 2 (2015) - $24,000
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