UFC Star Paige VanZant Shares Topless Photo That Reveals Harsh Truth About Cutting Weight

“I’m a lot heavier than people realize. I was honestly killing myself for this sport.”

Maxim Staff

Oct 12, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP_Z7VihyIm

UFC flyweight Paige VanZant will never again fight at 115 pounds. The former strawweight, who recently told The MMA Hour how grueling it was to get down to 115 pounds, shared a picture on Instagram Wednesday showing just how thin she had to be to meet that requirement.

Compare the picture above to the one below and it’s clear how much she had to cut to make weight.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaHjfjoldXD

TMZ also posted a photo of a topless VanZant looking gaunt and exhausted, apparently passed out on a bathroom floor.

UFC's Paige VanZant Topless & Drained in Candid Weight-Cutting Pics https://t.co/hwpcx17WbW

— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) October 11, 2017

This photo shows the result of a common occurrence for VanZant. As she told The MMA Hour, she was regularly passing out pre-fight becuase of the rigors of cutting weight.

“It’s a big cut for me,” she said. “I’m a lot heavier than people realize. I was honestly killing myself for this sport. In my last I want to say two fights or three fights, I’ve passed out in my bathroom. This last one, I passed out and had the doctors almost not cleared me for the fight.”

VanZant expects to be much more comfortable fighting at 125 pounds. “I’m a big advocate for body positivity and I was putting myself through an eating disorder to make weight,” she said.

“And it became not fun for me anymore. I hate cutting. I hated the process. Obviously, passing out on your bathroom floor is not fun, because you’re dying in a bathtub.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ-cyfwl_e0

VanZant was supposed to make her 125-pound debut at UFC 216 against Jessica Eye. She had to pull out of the fight with a back injury though. Now, she’s working on getting her back right and will soon make a return to the cage at a weight that won’t require her to nearly kill herself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYyfQx4lVET https://www.instagram.com/p/BYwRxBjlVS0 https://www.instagram.com/p/BXOMqcRlYKa https://www.instagram.com/p/BT-fiRtlR6x https://www.instagram.com/p/BWIrw4NFKPl https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ4MOfrlw9v