Paige VanZant will no longer be competing at BKFC 27.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to face Charisa Sigala on Saturday’s card from London but BKFC announced on Tuesday that the fight has been pulled from the show.
MMA Junkie is reporting that VanZant vs. Sigala was removed from the event in order to headline the company’s show on October 15. Other reports suggest the fight was pulled due to “logistical concerns in London” and could be moved to November.
VanZant posted to social media to express her frustration with the fight being postponed.
“THIS IS OUT OF MY CONTROL!!!” VanZant wrote. “I WENT AN ENTITE CAMP AND WEIGHT CUT TO BE PULLED A WEEK OUT!!!! I DID NOT PULL FROM MY FIGHT!!!! I WAS PULLED! I AM PISSED OFF AND HEARTBROKEN! I [WORKED] MY F—KING ASS OFF TO BE PULLED A WEEK BEFORE I AM SUPPOSED TO COMPETE!!!!!!”
MMA reporter John Morgan responded to VanZant’s comments and confirmed it was not PVZ’s decision for the fight to be postponed.
“Spoke to a person with knowledge of the decision that confirmed this was a difficult decision made by the organization, not PVZ, due to some logistical concerns in London. Told despite an October date being announced for the reschedule, November possible, as well.”
Paige VanZant is happy with her AEW in-ring debut and says she showed everyone that she is “meant to be a pro wrestler.”
The 28-year-old was interviewed by The Schmo backstage at AEW Double or Nothing and spoke about her performance on the show.
“I went out there, we got the win, I feel like I put on an impressive performance. I showed everybody [I’m] meant to be a pro wrestler too,” PVZ said.
While she’s happy with how the match went, she continued to say that she’s only going to get better.
“I never give myself a perfect grade. There’s always room for improvement. I’m only going to get better. I just started training pro wrestling but you got to see how quickly I picked up pro wrestling moves and I showed all the girls in the division they got somebody to look out for.”
PVZ was also pleased to have made her in-ring debut in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
“I knew this was the only place I wanted to make my AEW debut. It had to be big and it had to be on pay-per-view. I’m a pay-per-view person, they got to pay me the pay-per-view dollars to show up.”
As for when fans can expect her to return to the ring, PVZ said she’s hoping to be back soon and is looking forward to wrestling a singles match.
“I put on a dominant performance. I can’t wait for my solo match.”
Paige VanZant will make her in-ring pro wrestling debut at Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
VanZant will tag with American Top Team/Men of the Year duo Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page against Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, and Frankie Kazarian in a six-person trios match at Double or Nothing, one of two new bouts announced for the show during Friday’s Rampage episode.
VanZant, a former UFC fighter and current Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship fighter, officially signed with AEW earlier this year after making a sporadic series of appearances with the company beginning in September 2021. She has been training for professional wrestling with Gangrel, who made a surprise appearance on Friday’s Rampage episode.
In the other new bout added to Double or Nothing, Darby Allin will face Kyle O’Reilly in singles competition.
In a promo on Rampage, Allin vowed to get revenge on O’Reilly for taking out Sting in an injury angle on last week’s Dynamite episode. The match was made official later in the program.
Here is the updated lineup for Double or Nothing:
AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against CM Punk
AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa defends against Serena Deeb
Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finals: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole
Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
MJF vs. Wardlow
Anarchy in the Arena match: Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker) vs. Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson
AEW Tag Team Champions Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus defend against Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs and Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland in a triple threat match
The Young Bucks vs. The Hardys
Darby Allin vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Mixed tag match: Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page & Paige VanZant vs. Sammy Guevara, Frankie Kazarian & Tay Conti
The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix)
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Anna Jay
Pre-show: Hook & Danhausen vs. Tony Nese & “Smart” Mark Sterling
A mixed gender tag team match involving Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti against Paige VanZant and either Ethan Page or Scorpio Sky is “internally listed” for AEW Double or Nothing.
While the match has not been officially confirmed, our own Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that he’s been told it is “tentatively scheduled” for the show.
“The plan for sure was a mixed tag. I know people who presume that still is the idea,” Meltzer said.
On AEW Rampage this week, Guevara, Conti, and Frankie Kazarian took a sledgehammer to the TNT title and said they would continue to do so until they got the match they wanted.
“I was outright told over the weekend that it was ‘listed’. Until it’s announced it’s not announced, they could do it a different way,” Meltzer continued. “But, I was actually outright told that that match is tentatively scheduled for the pay-per-view and that is probably where they would do it.”
Paige VanZant wants to remain in BKFC, and is working on a contract extension with the company.
She told MMA Fighting that despite her losing streak in the company, she plans on remaining with BKFC.
“I’m still bare knuckle boxing,” VanZant said. “I’m still with BKFC. I’m about to sign a contract extension. Of course I didn’t have the greatest success right off the bat but that also fueled my fire even more. Training harder and I do see a lot of relationship between my training for BKFC and my training for pro wrestling. “The great thing is there’s 24 hours in a day and I’m going to use every single hour of that to train for both.”
VanZant has a 0-2 record in BKFC, most recently losing to Rachael Ostovich at BKFC 19 back on July 23 of last year.
After making appearances starting in September, it was announced in March that VanZant has signed with All Elite Wrestling. Aligned with Dan Lambert, Scorpio Sky, and Ethan Page, she is currently feuding with Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara.
New AEW signee Paige VanZant is set to headline a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event this summer.
BKFC has announced that VanZant will headline the promotion’s show at Alexandra Palace in London on Saturday, July 9. An opponent for VanZant has yet to be revealed.
This will be VanZant’s third fight since making her bare-knuckle boxing debut for BKFC. It’s the final fight on her current BKFC contract.
VanZant has yet to get her first BKFC win. She’s lost fights against Britain Hart and Rachael Ostovich.
On an episode of Dynamite earlier this month, it was officially confirmed that VanZant has signed a pro wrestling contract with AEW. She’s appeared for the promotion as part of Dan Lambert’s American Top Team stable. After VanZant signed with AEW, BKFC stated that VanZant was still under contract with them and that BKFC and AEW would work together to build her career.
During an interview on MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer, VanZant said that her focus right now is on both pro wrestling and bare-knuckle boxing.
“[My management team] really changed my life so I could sit down and say, ‘OK, Paige, what do you want to do with your time and your life and your career?’ I’m so fortunate having that management team on my side, and so now I’m doing exactly what I want to do,” VanZant said.
“I want to fight for AEW. I want to fight for BKFC. Contract is open-ended so I could still do MMA at the same time. I love MMA and I know my door’s definitely not closed on MMA, but at the same time, my passion really is pro wrestling and bare-knuckle boxing right now.”
VanZant told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour this week that, in a perfect world, she would make her AEW in-ring debut in the next few months. She’s training for pro wrestling at Coastal Championship Wrestling in Florida. The school is run by David “Gangrel” Heath.
Paige VanZant said Wednesday that WWE wanted to sign her to an exclusive contract when they have previous discussions.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, VanZant said she was confident she would end up in either AEW or WWE at some point.
“I knew my career was going to take me to the WWE or to AEW. I was watching both of them…huge fan of both,” she said. “The first AEW show I went to, though, the feeling, the audience, the crowd, everything about it, I just knew I belonged and it was something I knew I’d be really good at.”
VanZant also noted that she had discussions with WWE about possibly signing with them.
“I went down to their training center about a year ago. I did have some things in the works, but AEW kind of said what they needed to say. They had all the right words to get me to come over to the AEW.”
When asked what led to her choosing AEW over WWE, she said that being able to continue fighting was a key factor.
“There was just different contract details and styles,” she said. “[AEW] is working hand-in-hand with BKFC and letting me be a professional fighter still. I still get to be myself. It’s not an exclusive, full-time, wrestling contract.”
When asked if WWE’s offer required her to be exclusive to them, she responded, “Exactly.”
She also confirmed that she has one fight left on her BKFC contract.
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Austin Theory spoke to TVInsider on his upcoming match against Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38. He spoke about working with Vince McMahon. “I’m in a position that anyone who aspired to do anything in WWE would be so honored to have,” he said. I understand just how big a deal the position I am in is. Just how crazy it is for me as a lifelong fan who grew up watching Mr. McMahon and the crazy things he did. It’s cool to be put in a position to perform live television with him. The one thing I’ve learned from him is this respectful aggressiveness. Showing you have that respect, but if you have an idea and are passionate about something, you have to use that aggressiveness to go after it. There are little tips as we perform that I take away from for sure.”
WWE’s YouTube page has a preview of the upcoming episode of Broken Skull Sessions with guest Lita.
Natalya spoke with WMBD in Illinois about WrestleMania 38. She also spoke about the incident during WrestleMania 35 weekend where a fan ran in and attacked Bret Hart during his Hall of Fame speech. “It was really scary, actually. My uncle was starting to speak about my dad. I know that my dad meant so much to my uncle. They were best friends. My dad wasn’t there to speak or accept the award, so when you’re honoring somebody’s life after they’re gone, it’s very emotional,” Natalya said. For us, we were just trying to honor my dad’s life and give him an incredible send off.“I say this with complete conviction, just like our fans in WWE, just like the superstars in WWE, and the company. We were resilient. [Bret] and I got knocked down, we got right back up, and we kept going.”
This week’s Road to focuses on Thunder Rosa winning the AEW Women’s World Championship last week on Dynamite.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Paige VanZant said she would like to do both pro wrestling and bare knuckle fighting. “I want to fight for AEW. I want to fight for BKFC. Contract is open-ended so I could still do MMA at the same time. I love MMA and I know my door’s definitely not closed on MMA, but at the same time, my passion really is pro wrestling and bare-knuckle boxing right now.”
In an interview with Between the Ropes, Rocky Romero talked about the initial friction between AEW and NJPW. “Obviously like AEW talent coming to NJPW STRONG like we talked about earlier is important but also like vice-versa …NJPW talent going to an AEW is super cool and important, you know that is how the forbidden door started right?” Romero said. “Because of, not going too deep into the backstory, but there was some friction there between AEW and NJPW when The Bucks and Kenny left [NJPW] to form AEW with Tony [Khan]and things were not easy at first. But we are really working on the relationship and people like Kenny and Moxley and Jericho were really important in opening up that conversation again… so yeah of course I want to be a part of AEW they are doing great stuff and getting to work with TRENT again was awesome and I want to do more stuff with TRENT and Chuckie, Wheeler and of course, Orange Cassidy is the man.”
Paige VanZant’s bare knuckle fighting career isn’t over just yet.
Despite signing with AEW, the 27-year-old is still expected to continue competing for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships (BKFC). She has fought twice for the promotion since signing there in the summer of 2020.
“Paige is still under contract with BKFC,” BKFC officials said to MMA Fighting. “The companies will work together to build her career.”
According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, VanZant is expected to begin training at Coastal Championship Wrestling in Pompano Beach, Florida. The school is run by David Heath, aka Gangrel.
Although it is not known when VanZant will fight for BKFC again, company president Dave Feldman told MMA Fighting in January he was hoping she would be scheduled for a bout in April or May.
The former UFC fighters is 0-2 in her bare knuckle boxing career thus far, having dropped fights to Britain Hart and Rachael Ostovich. VanZant had previously defeated Ostovich in a 2019 UFC fight.
The former UFC and current Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship star signed her AEW contract during the main event segment of tonight’s Dynamite, igniting a feud with Tay Conti in the process.
As Conti seconded Sammy Guevara in the TNT Championship match main event, VanZant jumped the railing and attacked Conti, throwing her into the ring steps. As the distraction unfolded, Scorpio Sky pinned Guevara to win the TNT title. VanZant then signed her contract on top of Conti.
VanZant made her AEW debut in September 2021, aligning with Dan Lambert’s American Top Team stable. She has since made sporadic appearances for the company.
AEW president Tony Khan tweeted last week that he had offered Lambert’s client Sky a TNT title match this week in exchange for VanZant agreeing to sign with the company.
Khan tweeted the official announcement of VanZant’s signing tonight.
VanZant’s husband, Bellator MMA fighter Austin Vanderford, was also in the ring as VanZant signed her contract at tonight’s Dynamite show, although he was never identified by name on the television commentary.
VanZant, 27, fought for UFC from 2014 to 2020. She has a career 8-5 record in MMA, with a 5-4 record in UFC. VanZant’s UFC deal expired in July 2020. She signed a four-fight deal with BKFC in August 2020, and has since gone 0-2 in the promotion, losing both fights by decision.
VanZant gained a measure of mainstream notoriety with her 2016 appearances on the Dancing with the Stars reality competition, where she placed second.
All Elite Wrestling’s flagship show Dynamite on TBS featured a lot of major news . Join on-air personality Denise Salcedo as she reviews the February 2nd edition of the show which includes the removal of an announced Brian Kendrick match, an unpopular segment, and CM Punk’s first loss on AEW. This is the perfect show for all AEW fans!
Former UFC star Paige VanZant appeared on tonight’s AEW Dynamite, confronting Brandi Rhodes.
Rhodes and Dan Lambert were in the ring when Lambert introduced VanZant, who immediately came to the ring and attacked Rhodes. The two had to be pulled apart by the AEW women’s locker room as the segment ended.
Rhodes has confronted Dan Lambert and Men of the Year (Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky) in recent weeks. On tonight’s Dynamite, she came out for a promo and was immediately confronted by Lambert. The two ended up hurling insults. Rhodes told Page that the only reason AEW was interested in him was because they wanted to get to Josh Alexander, and also brought up American Top Team’s recent losses. After another derogatory comment by Lambert, Rhodes slapped Lambert, leading to Lambert introducing VanZant.
VanZant, who finished her contract with the UFC in 2020, appeared several times in AEW last year as part of American Top Team’s feud with The Inner Circle.
A look at the different directions Brock Lesnar could go is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We look at the money he can generate for a fight with Jon Jones, the reality about his trying to fight today, why he’s a free agent right now, what Tony Khan said about Lesnar, and why, unless Dana White isn’t telling the truth, it’s unlikely he will fight. Plus we’ve got comments by both White and Scott Coker on fights they would want to make if he does want to fight.
Also in this issue:
Positive COVID tests of Dwayne Johnson, A.J. Styles, Kevin Nash, Glover Teixeira and others that came out this week.
Payback, including the genesis of the Roman Reigns heel turn, the Rey Mysterio injury, the booking of the show, plus poll results and star ratigns.
New Japan at Jingu Stadium, including Tetsuya Naito growing up going to the stadium, all three-time IWGP champions, most IC tilte runs in Japan, business notes, plans for the tour going on this weeeknd, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
The departure of Mauro Ranallo from WWE, looking and his five years in the company, his background prior to the company, what old and new projects he’s expected to work on, and why he left.
The NXT title Iron Man match, next Takeover shows, Rey Mysterio television cartoon show, Paul Levesque stock sales, Levesque talks UK brnad, more on different allegations against WWE talent, returns of peope who have sit time out, change to Payback, Charlotte Flair news, Renee Young talks leaving WWE, Styles talks Heyman, lots of TV ratings updates internationally, new member of WWE Board of Directors, WWE market value and the most watched shows of the past week on WWE Network.
This past week’s UFC show.
Bio of Tom Anderson, who wrestled as The Claw and one half of the Masked Interns tag team. We look at two of the most tasteless angles in wrestiling that he was involved in, how one failed miserably and how the other was a huge business success. This includes the death of Alberto Torres, the heyday of the The Interns, the history of the masked doctors tag team and where it all came from, and classic stories involving Paul “Bear” Bryant, Ken Ramey, Lonnie Mayne, Beauregarde and what top promoter wouldn’t use the Interns and Ramey and why.
The life and career of Ric Drason, from bodybuilding to wrestling, including what two AEW stars he started, the glory days of Gold’s Gym in Santa Monica and the characters involved, his art work that sold millions of T-shirts, how one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time got his name from him, and why he had chacnes to be a star and the reason he never was.
A major change in how television ratings are done and how this is expectede to impact sports the most.
A comparison of the last week of AEW with competition and the show this past week where the only television competition was a replay show. We look at how this impacted every audience, what the audience numbers are likely to be for a regular unopposed Wednesday for AEW or NXT, and go in depth as to both sides of why WWE and USA would or would not want to move NXT. We also look at the huge change in the AEW audience from 8/12 to 9/2. We also have how the audience ebbed and flowed during the Iron Man match.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio talking Raw, Matt Hardy, BTE, Nick Diaz and a host of other subjects. You can send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
Kevin Mubenga, the agent of Nick Diaz, told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that Diaz is ready to return to fighting early next year. Diaz, 37, hasn’t fought since 2015.
Matt Hardy ended up being the No. 9 most searched term on Google yesterday. No updates on Hardy past that he was taken home from the hospital yesterday and is expected on television on Wednesday.
The lineup for tomorrow night’s NXT special which should draw a big number:
Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor in a no time limit match for the vacant NXT title
Rhea Ripley vs. Mercedes Martinez in a cage match
Bronson Reed vs. Austin Theory
Killian Dain vs. Roderick Strong
The show goes head-to-head with Impact on AXS TV:
Chris Bey vs. TJP
Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz for tag titles
After Impact, the Impact in 60 nostalgia show on AXS has Sting vs. Bully Ray and A.J. Styles vs. Bully Ray
Ricardo Lamas, a UFC veteran, officially announced his retirement today on MMA Junkie radio. Lamas, 38, once fought Jose Aldo in 2014 for the featherweight title and he had talked about retirement the past few weeks but today made it official.
Paige VanZant on social media noted that while her husband, Austin Vanderford, and a number of their teammates at ATT in Coconut Creek, FL, had tested positive for COVID-19, she tested negative but noted having all kinds of symptoms including a 102 degree fever, a loss of taste and smell and a swollen left eye. Vanderford was scheduled to fight on Saturday’s Bellator show but was pulled today after another positive test.
WWE
In storyline, WWE is saying Big E and Sasha Banks are no longer hospitalized.
Khazmat Chimaev, one of the company’s most talked about new fighters this summer, is scheduled against Gerald Meerschaert on 9/19, which is the final date of the current run at the Apex Arena in Las Vegas. UFC starts a five week run in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi on 9/26 with the Israel Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa middleweight title on PPV.
AEW
There were still 361 tickets left for Wednesday’s Dynamite tapings in Jacksonville as of this morning.
MISCELLANEOUS
Ohio Valley Wrestling will reach a milestone this week when it tapes its 1,100th episode. The show will be a two-hour special that features Jessie Godderz and Brian Pillman Jr., and air on 11Sports on Wednesday night and YTA Sports on Friday night. There are not all that many individual promotions that have taped 1,100 consecutive weeks of television in history and likely none of the size of OVW.
IWTV officially launched its new app this week on Apple TV. Users can get free content from their library. The previous Apple TV app will be discontinued on Wednesday so make sure to update the app.
The United Wrestling Network’s first weekly PPV show on 9/15 has added a Dan The Man Joseph vs. Levi Shapiro match for Joseph’s UWN TV title
Results from the AIW and GCW doubleheader in Indianapolis over the weekend:
AIW: AJ Gray & Pretty Boy Smooth b Eric Ryan & Bobby Beverly, Dominic Garrini b Calvin Tankman, Derek Director b Zack Thomas, Tom Lawlor b Ethan Page, Tre Lamar over Benjamin Carter, Chase Oliver and Johnny Patch, Nate Webb & Levi Everett & Swoggle & Allie Kat b The Duke & Daniel Rockingham & Eric Taylor & Mikey Montgomery, Lee Moriarty b Erick Stevens, Colin Delaney & Cheech b Phily C & Marino T to win tag titles, Matthew Justice & Mance Warner & Manders b Joshua Bishop & Wes Barkley & Mr. Brickster in a street fight
GCW: Thunder Kitty b Billie Starks, Jordan Oliver b Benjamin Carter, Chris Dickinson b Alex Colon, Tony Deppen b Calvin Tankman, KTB & Shane Mercer b Tre Lamar & Lee Moriarty, Allie Kat b Ethan Page, AJ Gray b Mance Warner, Atticus Cougar won over Dyln McKay & Nate Webb & Jimmy Loyd & Cole Radrick & Ace Austin, Joey Janela b Effy, Rickey Shane Page b Matthew Justice, Blake Christian b ACH (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
In a surprise move, former UFC strawweight and once hopeful WWE signee Paige VanZant is leaving MMA for a career in bare knuckle fighting instead.
First reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, VanZant has signed a exclusive four fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), turning down a contract offer from front runner and once expected future home, Bellator MMA, where her husband currently fights.
Helwani reported the deal is worth more than $1 million over the life of the deal and also includes incentives.
The 26-year-old lost the final fight on her UFC contract in July and had spoken prior to the fight about wanting to test free agency with Dana White suggesting that would be a good idea. She was 5-4 over nearly six years in the Octagon, fighting just three times since 2017 due to repeated injuries.
During her 13 fight career, she has just two wins by KO or TKO.
VanZant had been linked to WWE in the past, telling TMZ in 2018 she was “definitely interested” in going there, saying she loved it and had the personality for it. She also reportedly was discussing a SummerSlam appearance with the company in 2016.
