Paige VanZant has a defiant message for her haters, telling them that she'll 'still be beautiful' even if she gets cut open ahead of her bare knuckle debut.
VanZant walked away from mixed-martial-arts following the expiration of her UFC contract, signing a lucrative deal with bare knuckle promotion Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).
Her decision to join the bare knuckle organisation led to criticism from fans who questioned the 26-year-old's career move.
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But she has blasted her haters ahead of fighting Britain Hart in the main-event of BKFC: Knuckle Mania.
The former UFC star told them to "grow up" and insists she'll still be beautiful even if her faces gets bloodied up in battle.
Speaking to TMZ, she said: "I feel like I have for the majority of my career, and I've been thinking about this, why have I kept my mouth shut so much about all the haters and the hate and the negativity I get?
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"My idea is that if you talk sh*t to somebody then you should be willing to say it to their face.
"And not a single person who has said anything negative about me publicly has said it to my face.
"And I've seen these people in person."
'12 Gauge' added: "To me, it's like all the negativity about my face, like grow up.
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"It's a face, and it's mine, and I can do anything I want with it.
"And I guess what, I'm still going to be beautiful even if I get cut open. It's not a big deal.
"I think people are so - it just makes me believe - I want to see the world as this great happy place, but it's just so condescending just to think of your beauty as important."
She went 5-4 inside the famed Octagon, most recently losing to Amanda Ribas by submission at UFC 251 last summer.
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VanZant, who has been hampered by injuries, will be looking for her first win since January 2019 when she clashes with Hart on Friday.
Featured Image Credit: MMA Fighting/InstagramTopics: Bare Knuckle, Paige VanZant, Fight News, UFC
