Paige VanZant Confirms She's Held WWE Talks

Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant keen to pursue a wrestling career once her schedule frees up.

by Andrew Pollard
paige vanzant UFC 191
Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Having long been rumoured to sign with WWE, former UFC fighter Paige VanZant has revealed that she has actually had talks with Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment juggernaut.

In a new interview with Chis Van Vliet, VanZant detailed how not only has she held tentative talks with WWE, but she’s also visited the WWE Performance Center – explaining how she has some interest in possibly taking up a career in professional wrestling.

On the topic of her possible interest in a wrestling career, VanZant explained:

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“I do. I get asked about WWE a lot, and I do feel like it’s something I would be very good at because I kind of have the best of both worlds. I was a dancer where I was used to the entertainment and the showmanship side of it, and the combat sports side obviously goes into WWE.”

VanZant signed a four-fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in August of last year, and she’s actually due to make her debut for the promotion tomorrow.

At this point, 12 Gauge feels that she wouldn’t be able to commit to a pro wrestling career while still competing for Bare Knuckle, but she did add that she is keen to pursue wrestling once she has more free time in her schedule.

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Given how Paige VanZant is still only 26, there’s still plenty of time for her to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Ronda Rousey, Cain Velasquez, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock should see choose to turn her full attention to pro wrestling.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.