Strawweight contender Paige VanZant may be facing her first PR difficulties, as a White House petition has been filed against the 21-year-old for not shaving her head as promised.
VanZant, who has secured an exclusive sponsorship deal with Reebok and appears to be ticking all the boxes as the UFC’s next female star, sent a tweet out in March saying that she’d be shaving her head for a cancer charity.
Rumors are true:) I will be shaving my head for charity!!!! Dates aren’t set yet but I am ready to do something to give back. Stay tuned!!!
— Paige VanZant (@PaigeVanzantUFC) March 30, 2015
’12 Gauge’ decided not to shave her head and sent money to the charity instead, which spurred on the White House petition. The petition requires at least 100,000 signatures for it to be considered by the Obama administration – it reads as follows:
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“On March 30th, 2015, UFC fighter Paige Vanzant declared she would shave her head bald for a cancer charity, as a way to give back.
She then changed her mind days later and said,
“I’ve had a lot of negativity from the head-shaving idea, so maybe I’ll rethink it and try to think of something else I can do to give back. Maybe I’ll donate money because it’s an amazing cause.”
We cannot allow her to recant like this. We must force her to shave her head and give the community what she promised she would give. It not only makes women look bad, but it also makes the UFC, Dana White and ZUFFA look bad.
The petition will go on for as long as she doesn’t shave, (or she can go on a date with me and all will be forgiven).”
VanZant is currently high off a win against Alex Chambers at UFC 191. The Team Alpha Male product now moves to 3-0 under the UFC banner and sits as the #6 ranked fighter in the women’s strawweight division. The BJJ blue belt submitted Chambers via armbar in the third round.
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