Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is heading to Europe with one of its most notable stars set to return to action.
BKFC president Dave Feldman announced on Thursday that the promotion will debut in the United Kingdom with an event scheduled for July 9 at Alexandra Palace in London. Expected to headline is Paige VanZant, the former UFC fighter turned bare-knuckle boxer who is currently 0-2 under the BKFC banner. An opponent for VanZant has not been revealed yet.
BKFC also announced it will venture further into Europe with a second event on Aug. 6 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
VanZant completed her contract with the UFC and signed a multi-fight deal with BKFC over a year ago. ’12 Gauge’ debuted at KnuckleMania, where she was defeated by Britain Beltran [née Hart] via unanimous decision. She appeared again and welcomed a previous MMA opponent in Rachael Ostovich to the ring, losing a unanimous decision at BKFC 19. After going 0-2, there was some doubt she would fight again in BKFC, with Feldman previously saying her return was ‘up in the air’ this past October.
“We spoke to her management team and honestly it’s up in the air,” Feldman told Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. “We’re not 100 percent sure she’ll be back with BKFC. It looks like she will but at the end of the day, if her heart and her passion is she wants to give MMA another shot, we may give her that opportunity. I’m not here to hold anybody back.”
However, with her future at BKFC seemingly secured, VanZant has been pursuing other opportunities as well. She has delved into the world of professional wrestling, with the 27-year-old signing with All Elite Wrestling on a recent episode of AEW: Dynamite. Following several televised appearances alongside American Top Team (ATT) founder Dan Lambert and teammates, VanZant joined the AEW roster and should debut sometime this year.
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