21-year-old Paige VanZant is 1-0 in UFC career so far, but has already set some personal goals with regards to the continued development of women’s MMA.
While her recent success has caught many fans and pundits off guard, mainly because she is just 4-1 in her professional career and yet to prove herself as an elite competitor on the UFC stage. As one of the four athletes with a Reebok deal, Paige certainly expected naysayers to come out of the woodworks.
“No matter my success there will always be negativity; look at Ronda – she is an amazing athlete but there are still people who aren’t behind her,” Paige told Phoenix Carnevale. “That’s so appalling and I know that is going to happen with me as well.”
VanZant also addressed the stereotypes she faces as a female in a violent niche sport such as MMA. She explained that some people simply cannot understand why a pretty female would be willing to sacrifice her physical appeal to compete in combat sports.
“I just want to break those stereotypes. There are a lot of stereotypes that need to be broken. People will watch this fight, we are both very high-level athletes, and they’ll see that we’re a lot more than people think.”
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