Paige VanZant’s “Dancing with the Stars” experience has come and gone, but she certainly remembers the huge paycheck she got for doing it.
The 26-year-old fighter spoke recently to Ariel Helwani of ESPN and she relayed how she’s looking for to free agency, because she believes she deserves a loftier pay increase after performing on ABC’s ballroom dancing competition.
“I made more money on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ than I have in my entire UFC career combined. Every fight, every win, every bonus,” VanZant said.
She finished second on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2016.
“So I make $46,000 (to fight) and (another) $46,000 (to win),” VanZant said. “I’m not going to hide that because everyone knows. I can make way more money than that just promoting brands on Instagram, and that should say something.”
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“I have my heart set and nobody is going to change my mind that I’m fighting my contract out,” she told Ariel Helwani. ” don’t know where my future lies – I truly don’t. I think that’s kind of an exciting thing in my life.
“I’ve been with the UFC for six years now, and through this time I’m still – which is crazy – on the same contract before I fought Rose (Namajunas) at 22 years old, and I’m 26 now.”
VanZant is scheduled to face Amanda Ribas at UFC 251 on ‘Fight Island’ next month.
Her 2.5 million Instagram followers have opened up a range of new financial options for VanZant, something she says gives her more leverage in negotiations.
