Paige VanZant was expected to blast her way to superstardom inside the bareknuckle arena.
Instead, the former UFC strawweight fell to 0-2 after losing back-to-back fights against Britain Hart and Rachael Ostovich, both of which came for David Feldman and Co. under the BKFC banner in Florida.
“Absolutely she’s in a must win-situation,” Feldman told MMA Fighting. “I can’t keep saying ‘she fought really good, now let’s see what happens next time.’ Eventually and now’s the time, she has to come out with a victory. Like I said, we’ll sit down with her team and see what happens. I think we’re all going to move forward together, but you’re absolutely right, she’s in a must-win situation without a doubt.”
VanZant, 27, faced similar struggles in her MMA career, dropping four of her last six and getting finished three times in the process. Outside of her own personal website, “12 Gauge” has been unable to get anything going.
“I didn’t like that she stormed out of the ring, and didn’t come to the post-fight press conference, but at the same time I liked it for the fact that she did it because she’s so passionate about what she does and I like fighters that don’t take losses good,” Feldman continued. “On the flipside, she needs to do what the company requires. There could have been miscommunication. It doesn’t even matter. What matters is she fought really, really well and we’re going to sit down with her team and see what’s next.”
A date and opponent for VanZant’s return has yet to be established.