Paige VanZant on Contract Talks: 'I Don't Know If the UFC's Going to Re-Sign Me'

With her UFC contract expiring, Paige VanZant is uncertain about her MMA future and whether another UFC deal is in the cards.

According to Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com, VanZant referenced what may have been her final UFC fight at UFC 251 and questioned what will come next in her career:

"I just wanted to live in the moment because I didn't know what the future held. I didn't know if that was my last UFC fight with me being on the last fight on my contract. I don't know if the UFC's going to re-sign me. It's still up in the air and we'll see what happens if I end up going to a different promotion that I feel values me a little bit higher. We just don't know. It was really emotional."

After missing well over a year because of injury, the 26-year-old VanZant made her long-awaited return at UFC 251 last week, losing to Amanda Ribas by first-round submission.

Per Martin, VanZant has expressed dissatisfaction with pay in UFC on multiple occasions, which may be a big reason why she is about to test the open market.

After VanZant's loss to Ribas, UFC President Dana White said VanZant got "smoked" and noted that she should "definitely" test free agency. VanZant suggested she was surprised by White's remarks:

"Honestly, I didn't actually see specifically the quote or what he said. I try not to pay attention too much. It's unfortunate because I feel like I have a really good relationship with Dana. I feel like I thought we were closer friends and he could text me or call me. Something to have a little bit of compassion, something to communicate with me personally but maybe he will. We just don't know. I'm sure it's an uncomfortable situation."

VanZant also expressed her belief that UFC set her up to fail on the way out by giving her such a tough matchup in Ribas:

"This is the exact fight the UFC wanted. They kind of do this to people when they're on the last fight on their contract. They give them, like, the perfect style matchup. I went against somebody, she's 10-1, I've almost had layoffs, calculating like three years I've only been able to fight once cause I keep getting injured.

"Obviously, it was the very toughest opponent they could give me for my one returning fight I had left. I didn't play into what the UFC wanted. Of course, I still had confidence going into it. Amanda was so talented. I'm so excited to see where her career goes."

If VanZant does leave UFC and sign elsewhere, she will depart with an 8-5 record professionally, including a 5-4 record under the UFC umbrella.

While she won each of her first three fights with UFC, VanZant struggled over the past four years. She dropped three of her past four fights, including losses to Ribas, Jessica-Rose Clark and Michelle Waterson.

Despite her recent struggles, VanZant could be highly sought-after on the open market since she has mainstream appeal thanks to her appearances on the hit television shows Dancing with the Stars and Chopped.

VanZant has also been linked to WWE over the years, so if there is no satisfactory offer from an MMA promotion, perhaps a move into the world of professional wrestling could be in the offing.