UFC strawweight contender Paige VanZant says she demanded to move up to the flyweight division.
On Tuesday, VanZant appeared on The MMA Hour and talked about moving up from 115 to 125 pounds.
“I kind of put my foot down on this one,” VanZant said. “It was time for me to move up.”
VanZant revealed that she struggled to make weight throughout her UFC career, and was cutting from 137 pounds all the way to 115 pounds in order to compete.
“It’s a big cut for me,” VanZant said. “I’m a lot heavier than people realize. I was honestly killing myself for this sport. In my last I want to say two fights or three fights, I’ve passed out in my bathroom. This last one, I passed out and had the doctors almost not cleared me for the fight.”
VanZant said she decided to stop cutting so much weight after her parents saw her cutting weight for her fight last December against Michelle Waterson.
“My parents have never seen me cut weight, but they watched this one and they told me if I ever did that again they were gonna disown me,” VanZant said. “They thought, I’m killing myself for this and it’s not worth it. It’s not worth hurting myself physically for a sport.”
VanZant will make her UFC flyweight debut against Jessica Eye on Oct. 7 at UFC 216 in Las Vegas.
“I think that the world will see that I’m so much better at 125,” VanZant said. “I’m gonna be healthier, I’m gonna be stronger, I’m gonna be faster. I can’t wait to show that off.”
