After an eight-month hiatus that saw her compete on Dancing with the Stars, Paige VanZant returned to the UFC to secure a vicious head-kick KO in 2016.
When Paige VanZant debuted in the UFC in 2014, she was widely considered the future of women's MMA and received a huge boost from the promotion.
Fast forward a year to 2015 and the strawweight decided to take a break from fighting after a submission loss to Rose Namajunas in her first main event.
Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Paige VanZant scores a stunning KO over Bec Rawlings in her comeback
'12 Gauge' decided to take an eight-month hiatus, during which she took part in the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars.
The then-UFC star finished the competition in second place and soon after, she opted to return to the promotion.
The UFC paired her with Bec Rawlings, who had a mediocre start to her UFC career after her stint on The Ultimate Fighter.
VanZant came out extremely cautiously in the first round of her meeting with Rawlings, and 'Rowdy' dominated most of the first five minutes.
Despite this, in the break between rounds, VanZant was implored by her corner team to focus on simple attacks so she could work her way into the fight.
However, just 17 seconds into the second round, the star strawweight landed a hellish leaping switch kick that landed flush on Rawlings' chin and sank her into the canvas.
While there was a lot of hype surrounding VanZant even leading up to the fight, her win over Rawlings only increased that and grew her star power.
Will Paige VanZant ever return to the UFC and what's next for her?
Unfortunately, '12 Gauge' struggled to ever live up to the hype surrounding her and left the UFC in 202 after suffering her fourth loss in the promotion.
Since her departure from the promotion, the 30-year-old has competed in several martial arts. VanZant took her talents to the Bare-Knuckle Boxing ring before Conor McGregor became co-owner of BKFC, but unfortunately lost both times.
The striker has also competed in Misfits Boxing against influencer boxer Elle Brooke and the two fought to a shared draw.
Since then, VanZant has moved closer to a return to the UFC, as she has competed twice under Dana White's Power Slap banner.
In her Power Slap debut, she took the unanimous decision victory and admitted how much she enjoyed competing in the sport. She next faced the wife of UFC legend John Dodson and Chelsea Dodson, but they couldn't be separated on the scorecards.
Although the former UFC star doesn't currently have a combat sports outing booked, she recently teased on her Instagram that she has fight news coming soon.
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