Paige VanZant says that her decision to to take her clothes off for money for her OnlyFans-style subscription website has financially liberated her after spending six years in the UFC.
The 27-year-old had already built quite the following online because of how good she looked, but would always stray away from the many men asking her to join OnlyFans. Following her last fight on UFC, she took her talents to the upstart fight league Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship league and eventually launched her own subscription fan site.
“There was always this back and forth,” she said. “There are two sides of it. I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I would lose business opportunities based on having an exclusive content site, but I feel like I’m already seen as a sex symbol in the sports world.
“I might as well have the monetization behind it. I wanted to do it on my own terms.
“So I actually joined Fan Time, it’s a separate company. I’m not with OnlyFans. It’s my own website and I have a lot of control over what goes on there. It’s basically me doing exclusive things. I’m proud to say I’m part of it.
“I work hard for my body. I work hard for who I am, and there’s a side of me that’s extremely girly and feminine, and I get to share that on my fan site. Now I think it’s becoming a lot more acceptable.
“Before, the OnlyFans was seen more for just like porn stars. It was a little bit more x-rated, just the view from the public.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral MMA stories via Google! Follow Us
“Not saying that’s actually what people have on there, but I wanted to do it my own way. I wanted to do it professionally and have my own website and that’s what I’ve done.”
VanZant’s bare knuckle boxing career gets back starting again when she takes on Rachael Ostovich in a rematch of their UFC fight several years ago.
VanZant says that she has finally found financial independence in her winding path through the fight game.
“I will say when I signed with BKFC, I was making more money than I had made in my entire UFC career,” she said. “Now I’m making more money than my entire BKFC contract in, like, a month. It’s pretty crazy.”
