Combat Sports News

Paige VanZant will be returning to MMA competition for the first time since July of 2020- she's signed with new promotion Global Fight League. 

Has she been active since leaving the UFC?

She has, first off- two fights in BKFC, a boxing match, and a pair of Power Slap fights, so she's kept herself active in that span. 

Why'd GFL sign her?

In my opinion, and if we're looking at business reasons, for the same reason that the PFL signed Jake Paul- she's a recognizable name that can be a spokesperson for the promotion and someone that people will pay to see, but it's not quite clear at this point if this is a good move long-term. 

...HOWEVER, one can look at this GFL signing and going back to MMA as a "blank slate" for her. 

Why is this a potential bad move long-term?

Simply put, her lack of success in the combat sports world since leaving the UFC. Part of success is getting paid- and she's done that, with five bouts in four years- but another part of combat sport success is also getting your hand raised, and she's 1W-2L-2D since leaving the UFC and 3-5-2 if you count her 2 wins in her final 5 UFC bouts, with neither of those two records looking particularly good.