UFC strawweight star Paige VanZant, currently seeking an opponent for her next bout, has found yet another endeavor outside the octagon. VanZant, who appeared with much success on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, has inked a book deal. The deal will see the release of her memoir under the Hachette Book Group. Hachette Book Group […]
UFC strawweight star Paige VanZant, currently seeking an opponent for her next bout, has found yet another endeavor outside the octagon. VanZant, who appeared with much success on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, has inked a book deal. The deal will see the release of her memoir under the Hachette Book Group. Hachette Book Group […]
UFC women’s strawweight fighter Paige VanZant is once again taking her talent outside of the world famous Octagon as she is going to be an author after inking a publishing deal to release her first book. According to her management company at MMA Inc., VanZant has agreed and signed a deal with Hachette Book Group
UFC women’s strawweight fighter Paige VanZant is once again taking her talent outside of the world famous Octagon as she is going to be an author after inking a publishing deal to release her first book.
According to her management company at MMA Inc., VanZant has agreed and signed a deal withHachette Book Group to release her first book in the near future. Hachette Book Group has worked with several notable authors over the years most noticeably with David Baldacci, Brad Meltzer, James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer and J.K. Rowling.
Over the last few years of her young life, VanZant has stayed busy with her MMA career as well as outside projects. She made an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” while also fighting twice in last year as well, which is pretty impressive.
At just 22 years of age, VanZant holds a 7-3 MMA record, but she has dropped two of her last three bouts. She is coming off a loss to Michelle Waterson by rear-naked choke in December. VanZant has been anxious to get back in action in 2017, but with her releasing a new book and then doing media for its release, it appears that it will be a minute into she competes again.
Fighters competing in the UFC’s Octagon probably seem like the last people on earth who would have been bullied while growing up, but in some cases it was experiencing that adversity during their childhood that led to them discovering martial arts in the first place. In fact, as you’ll discover in this article, it’s a
Fighters competing in the UFC’s Octagon probably seem like the last people on earth who would have been bullied while growing up, but in some cases it was experiencing that adversity during their childhood that led to them discovering martial arts in the first place.
In fact, as you’ll discover in this article, it’s a real eye-opener to discover just how many of MMA’s biggest stars have painful memories of being picked on, beaten up and made fun of before they knew how to defend themselves.
The 10 UFC stars we’ll discuss here are living proof that martial arts can have a positive effect on bullied kids’ lives, not only teaching them how to fight, but also giving them self-confidence, self esteem, and a sense of belonging, and in some cases even paving the way for a successful career under the bright lights of the Octagon.
Georges St-Pierre
UFC legend Georges St-Pierre was so affected by being picked on as a child that he started his own anti-bullying foundation after he became a star.
As a skinny, self-confessed nerd with acne problems, St-Pierre became a target for older bullies in the small town of St. Isadore, Quebec, Canada that he grew up in.
In his book, ‘The Way Of The Fight,’ GSP recalls one particularly humiliating incident when he was just nine years old that saw three 12-year-old troublemakers jump him, steal his lunch money and strip him of his clothes, while other classmates just looked on and laughed.
Many years later, St-Pierre was hailed as a hero as he returned to that same school as a UFC welterweight champion and all-time great in the sport of mixed martial arts to speak to students about how to overcome the challenges of bullying.
For St-Pierre, being a victim of harassment helped fuel his interest in martial arts and eventually led to him becoming strong enough to defend himself.
“By 14, 15, nobody could touch me,” he recalled in an interview with Yahoo! Sports, but his real message to other victims is that even if they don’t follow the same path he did, that the bad times won’t last forever.
“Things change,” he promised. “When you’re young you think everything will stay the same. It won’t. Everything will change. You just have to keep going.”
UFC on FOX 22 had some great action and did a good rating as well. The event pulled in 3,178,000 viewers, which was the best number since the 3.2 million viewers that tuned into UFC on FOX 10 in January 2014. The last UFC on FOX event, UFC on FOX 21, drew 1,983,000 viewers. The
UFC on FOX 22 had some great action and did a good rating as well. The event pulled in 3,178,000 viewers, which was the best number since the 3.2 million viewers that tuned into UFC on FOX 10 in January 2014. The last UFC on FOX event, UFC on FOX 21, drew 1,983,000 viewers.
The event was headlined by Michelle Waterson’s first round submission win over Paige VanZant while the co-main event featured Mickey Gall finishing Sage Northcutt. Also, Urijah Faber beat Brad Pickett by decision, which was Faber’s last pro-MMA bout. It should be noted that this was the second straight televised fight for Northcutt on a show that did impressive TV ratings. His prelim fight at UFC 200 with Enrique Marin set a record for viewership on FOX Sports 2 with 582,000 viewers.
The UFC on FOX 22 prelims drew 679,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1. The post-fight show did 139,000 viewers. The UFC attempted to bring younger stars out into the spotlight for this event, and as seen by the viewership number, it worked.
MMA fans get a rare break from UFC events as the promotion is taking a weekend off for Christmas. However, they return on December 30th in a big way as former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returns to the world famous Octagon as she challenges Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight title at UFC 207. The prelims for that event will air on FOX Sports 1 while the main card will air on pay-per-view (PPV).
Fresh off UFC on FOX 22, the UFC rankings were updated.
Michelle Waterson, who finished Paige VanZant in the main event, moved up four spots to No. 7 at strawweight. Waterson, a former …
Fresh off UFC on FOX 22, the UFC rankings were updated.
Michelle Waterson, who finished Paige VanZant in the main event, moved up four spots to No. 7 at strawweight. Waterson, a former Invicta FC atomweight champion, is unbeaten since joining the UFC.
VanZant fell two spots to a tie for ninth with Maryna Moroz. The changes also moved Jessica Aguilar and Juliana Lima down a spot each, while Alexa Grasso jumped one position to 14th.
The two bantamweight divisions saw ample movement from the lower portion, as fighters moved up after inactivity left fighters dropping out.
In the pound-for-pound Top-15, Cris “Cyborg” Justino moved ahead of Khabib Nurmagomedov into a tie for 11th with reigning UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
The California Athletic Commission has handed out medical suspensions for several fighters who were in action this past weekend at UFC on FOX 22.
Main event fighter Paige VanZant has be…
The California Athletic Commission has handed out medical suspensions for several fighters who were in action this past weekend at UFC on FOX 22.
Main event fighter Paige VanZant has been given a 45-day suspension after her technical submission loss to Michelle Waterson. VanZant has stated a desire to take time off, so the suspension should not have any real effect on her next bout.
Mickey Gall and Brad Pickett were each given 60-day suspensions, while Urijah Faber received a 45-day suspension. Sage Northcutt, who lost to Gall in the co-main event, was not listed on the report.
Paige VanZant: suspended 45 days with no exception for falling unconscious
Mickey Gall: suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for right eyebrow laceration
Urijah Faber: suspended 45 days with no exception for hard bout
Brad Pickett: suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for left eyelid laceration, and 45 days with 30 days no contact for hard bout
Alan Jouban: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible fracture to left knee (joint pain)
Mike Perry: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible fracture to nose
Luis Henrique da Silva: suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for left eyebrow and right cheek laceration
Cole Miller: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible fracture to right hand and fifth left finger
Colby Covington: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible orbital fracture, and suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for facial laceration
Bryan Barberena: suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for facial laceration
James Moontasri: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible fracture to nose, and suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for left eyelid
Josh Emmett: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible rib fracture, and suspended 45 days with no exception for hard bout
Scott Holtzman: suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for right eyelid laceration, and suspended 45 days with no exception for hard bout
Irene Aldana: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for possible fracture to right eye, and suspended 45 days with no exception for hard bout
Takeya Mizugaki: suspended 45 days with 30 days no contact for knockout
Hector Sandoval: suspended 180 days or until cleared by physician for left hip pain
Sultan Aliev: suspended 60 days or until cleared by physician for left eyelid laceration