UFC's Paige VanZant: 'I Was Giving Myself an Eating Disorder to Make the Weight'

Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

The end of Paige VanZant's run as a UFC strawweight was a tough one for the 23-year-old, who competed with tough weight cuts alongside stiff competition. According to VanZant, it was even tougher than she let on, telling BBC in an interview that she developed an eating disorder on her various treks down to 115 pounds.

"I was having different issues with myself and my body. I was giving myself an eating disorder to make the weight," she said. "I recently went up to the flyweight division which is 10lbs heavier, which is a huge difference."

Weight cutting, a practice where combat athletes lose massive amounts of weight ahead of a contest in order to compete in lighter divisions, is rife in MMA. While the majority of cuts are without incident, a number of fighters each year die due to complications from dropping weight.

VanZant has previously detailed how difficult her cuts down to 115 pounds were and how it impacted her ability to compete and even her family. Speaking with the Players' Tribune, she discussed how she prayed to not die ahead of her 2017 fight with Michelle Waterson:

The UFC, to this point, has avoided seeing one of its athletes die from a weight cut, but there have been some troubling situations. Ahead of her flyweight debut, VanZant was standing alongside UFC middleweight Uriah Hall when his kidneys shut down due to cutting, an event that to her confirms she made the right move.

"I was at a fight where a fellow UFC fighter, Uriah Hall, was cutting weight and he pushed himself just to the brink of death," she said. "He had kidney failure and started seizing in the hallway right in front of me. It's because of that I'm like 'I cant do this anymore'."

Even though she has her weight cutting troubles alleviated for now, she still has a tough road ahead of her. During her flyweight debut opposite Jessica-Rose Clark in January, she sustained a broken forearm and is currently recovering with the aid of a titanium plate.

Still, VanZant seems to be looking forward to returning to the Octagon and getting back in the win column.