It’s official! Paige Van Zant will be continuing her mixed martial arts career without gloves and with bare knuckles. Recently, it was announced that PVZ will be heading to Bare Knuckle FC, a place where Middle Easy rumored her to go. Many fans of the sport were skeptical about Paige’s journey. However, Van Zant’s boxing coach expects the transition to be smooth and nearly seamless.
News of the deal was reported by Ariel Helwani of ESPN. Furthermore, it was published that the deal was for multiple fights. Although at this time, details are not known. As an internet savvy fighter, Paige understands the concerns of her fans taking on such a brutal endeavor.
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Van Zant’s Coach on Bare Knuckle Transition
But, speaking to MMA Fighting, PVZ made it clear that she is a fighter first, and even if things go wrong, she’ll be able to fix them up rather quickly with the perk of plastic surgery. And, her head boxing coach Gabriel de Oliveira isn’t concerned as well. In fact, he believes the transition will go well. He spoke with MMA Fighting about the move.
“We’ll have more time to work with Paige, because she will only fight in November or early next year. We don’t have the date set yet – but we’ve already seen how she moves,” de Oliveira said “She’s not totally raw. We’ll have to work, add some concepts and change a few concepts she’s carrying over, but I think it’s going to be a smooth transition.
Furthermore, he stated that Paige’s desire to learn will also be beneficial to embarking on the new journey. And, that she understands she has a long way to go to be a great bare-knuckle fighter.
“The most important is that she’s willing to do it. One cool thing about her is that we say something and she does it, she wants to learn, she’s thirsty for knowledge. Some other athletes we eventually work with, when we say something they go, ‘Oh, no, not that, I don’t want,’ you know? ‘I want my way, this is my way.’ She’s not like that, she understands she has to adapt and make some changes in order to do well in this new sport.”
Mapping Out a Fight Schedule
Although de Oliveira specified that Paige will fight in November, he wasn’t able to give details on the exact date. Furthermore, it’s still unknown who Van Zant will face in her debut to bare-knuckle boxing.
Who would fans want to see Paige fight first?
