Ex-UFC star Paige VanZant has made more money in 24 hours on OnlyFans than she did during her entire career as a professional fighter.
’12 Gauge’ has undeniably become one of combat sports’ biggest stars. Ironically, her fame reached a high point after she had largely walked away from competing. Following a middling six-year run under the UFC banner, Paige VanZant walked away from the promotion, betting on herself in the free agency market. It paid off as she bagged a big-money deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
However, her appearances inside the squared circle have been few and far between once she realized the kind of money she could make through social media platforms and the popular subscription-based website OnlyFans.
During a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ OnlyStans podcast, Paige VanZant revealed that she’s already made more money on OnlyFans than in her entire fight career. In fact, she eclipsed that amount within 24 hours of activating her OF account.
“I would say when I made the switch to OnlyFans…there’s a lot of stuff I’ve done in my career…I’ve been really fortunate that my career even outside of the UFC and outside of fighting has been pretty successful,” VanZant said.
“I’ve worked pretty hard in other industries and trying to crossover to like I guess more of a mainstream personality. But yes, OnlyFans has definitely been my largest source of income. I would say combined in my fighting. I think I made more money in 24 hours on OnlyFans than I had in my entire fighting career” (h/t Unilad).
Don’t Count on Seeing Paige VanZant Return to the Ring or the Cage Anytime Soon
Paige VanZant is still under contract with the BKFC, but it’s probably safe to assume that her time competing with the bare-knuckle fight group is over.
Frankly, the appeal of seeing PVZ fight has waned significantly after she went winless in her first two appearances with the promotion, leaving the BKFC hesitant to pay her the big bucks she wants. On the flip side, VanZant simply can’t justify taking the time to compete because it would only take her away from her number one source of income.
“The hard thing for me to put in perspective is with endorsements I make way more money sitting at home, posting pictures on Instagram, than I do fighting. With endorsement deals and everything I pull in from social media, I would actually be a loss just taking a fight and focusing on that,” VanZant added. “If I were to stop everything I do outside of fighting and take a fight, I would be at a loss financially.“
Paige VanZant also takes issue with the pay gap between women in combat sports compared to men, citing her last round of negotiations with the BKFC.
“When I did my contract negotiation the last time, the talk was, ‘I can’t pay you more than a female champion.’ Okay, but why are comparing me to just women? All of us should be getting paid more in general.”