“I Didn’t Want to Live Anymore”- When Paige VanZant Opened up About Mental Health Struggles After Fight Loss

Published 02/09/2022, 9:35 AM EST

In a competitive sport like MMA and boxing, a loss can mean several things. It can really affect a fighter. For Paige VanZant, her BKFC loss really affected her mental health.

VanZant parted ways with the UFC in 2020 and started fighting for BKFC. However, things didn’t really go as expected because she lost her BKFC debut fight as well as her next fight. Further, before joining the promotion, the fighter was also coming off a loss in the UFC. These back-to-back losses broke her.

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In a video, VanZant was seen speaking about her failures. After her BKFC loss against Rachael Ostovich, VanZant cried in the parking lot. She said (h/t MMA Fighting), “I said some things to my husband that are pretty terrible about like my mental state.”

“I told him I didn’t want to live anymore, that this wasn’t for me anymore. Like life wasn’t for me anymore so I was disappointed, It was hard.”

Ostovich earns a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) in her first BKFC bout against Paige Vanzant.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) July 24, 2021

“Everyone expects me to lose and everyone expects me to fail. I don’t know, I just feel like people have this specific perception of who I am and especially online. It’s crazy how much people can hate on a single person. I just don’t get it,” said VanZant.

She further spoke about how her husband Austin Vanderford has never lost a single bout. While it can be a tough situation, VanZant is his biggest supporter.

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Speaking about mental health, she further said, “Mental health is no joke and I need to start taking my mental health more seriously.”

Thus, while speaking about her issues, she also gave out a powerful message for everyone.

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More on Paige VanZant

It is refreshing to see a combat sports athlete speak about mental health. Sports that require athletes to fight also generally call for a tough and unbreakable presence. This leaves no room for conversations about mental health. Combat sports athletes can sometimes experience a lot of anxiety problems. But with VanZant coming forth to speak about an issue that is rarely discussed, one can only hope that other athletes too may take a pause and reflect on their mental health.

The ’12 Gauge’ is experiencing a rough patch currently. However, fans hope to see her fight in the future and bag some wins. After all, nothing better than seeing her come back stronger than ever.

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Written by:

Rohini Kottu is a UFC Writer at EssentiallySports. She is also a Psychologist and has a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. Rohini, in her role as a UFC writer, combines her admiration for the mental resilience that MMA fighters have and her love for analysis.

“I Didn’t Want to Live Anymore”- When Paige VanZant Opened up About Mental Health Struggles After Fight Loss

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