UFC strawweight competitor Paige “12 Gauge” VanZant is making some changes with her camps. Following a tough loss to Michelle “Karate Hottie” Waterson at UFC on FOX 22, the fighter has decided to move closer to family.
Following her loss in December, “12 Gauge” has elected to move back to her home town of Portland, Oregon to be closer to family and to change up her training. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Paige VanZant broke down her decision to move.
“It was a really tough loss, it was really hard on me, but, actually, for the most part, I’m getting used to training with a new fight camp. I moved back to Portland, Oregon, to be with family, so I guess I’m taking some time to adjust to a new fight team and a new gym for my upcoming fight.” She said.
VanZant admitted that she has been considering the move for some time. “I was just kind of planning it already,” VanZant said. “My whole family is from Portland, I just always had it on my mind that I wanted to be back around family, and it was just a perfect time for me to start over and train with a new camp and be around a huge support and finally have family in my life again.” She stated.
The strawweight competitor revealed that she is friends with Chael Sonnen, who provided her with much help in the move to a new gym. “Me and Chael Sonnen have the same management team. I’ve been friends with Chael for a while. I knew he was in Portland and he had a really successful fight team out in Portland. I just called him and he really took me under his wing, he set me up with a great MMA gym, which is Gracie Barra with Fabiano, and he also set me up with an amazing conditioning program, Dave. Chael really took me under his wing and set me up with everything I needed.”
