Has UFC strawweight Paige VanZant left her Team Alpha Male home? It's complicated

Paige VanZant hasn’t officially left Team Alpha Male, but she’s not a full-time presence, either.

Team Alpha Male founder Urijah Faber said VanZant recently purchased a home in her native Oregon and hasn’t said what her plans are for future fight camps. She hasn’t, however, formally split from the team.

“She’s probably going to set up a home camp in Oregon, and I imagine she’ll probably travel for her camps,” Faber today told MMAjunkie. “I don’t know if she’ll travel here, or travel to L.A. But she’s welcome here, obviously.”

Buzz from several online MMA forums speculated that VanZant (7-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) had formally left the gym, where she’s trained for several UFC fights. Three-time UFC title challenger and Bellator star Chael Sonnen announced this past Saturday that VanZant will be training with Gracie Barra in Portland, Ore.

Messages to VanZant’s representatives weren’t immediately returned.

Previous reports have indicated the 22-year-old star was an on-again, off-again presence at Team Alpha Male. Her tenure with the MMA camp has coincided with a burgeoning entertainment career. A star turn on Season 22 of “Dancing with the Stars” led to movie offers and an invitation to the WWE, which she turned down so she could prepare for a UFC on FOX 22 headliner against Michele Waterson (14-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC).

Faber said VanZant’s schedule has meant she’s only in the gym for about six weeks at a time as she juggles other obligations. The fight with Waterson ended in a first-round submission loss.

“I’m not sure if she’s planning on doing that here or not,” Faber said. “We spoke briefly about it. I told her she’s always welcome. That’s a better question for her.

“She hasn’t officially said, ‘I’m never coming back.’ If it were up to me, I’d have her training in here all year ’round and having guys watch over her. But she’s got a unique setup, being a girl that’s from Oregon, living in Reno (Nev.), coming to Sacramento, being in the limelight so much.”

Sonnen missed VanZant when she initially came to Gracie Barra, but looks forward to working with her.

“I imagine she moved back because of her family,” he said.

VanZant’s next fight has not been announced. Prior to her fight against Waterson, she said she was working on a memoir that details her upbringing in Dayton, Ore.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.