Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant has expressed her frustration at being pulled from this weekend’s BKFC 27 event by the promotion.
This Saturday, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will cross the pond for its UK debut. The rising organization will bring action to the OVO Wembley Arena in England’s capital city, but there’ll be one notable omission come fight night.
VanZant was due to face Charisa Sigala on this weekend’s card, which will be headlined by a blockbuster showdown between Mike Perry and London’s own Michael “Venom” Page, who’s secured the blessing of Bellator MMA for his BKFC debut.
But this week, it was announced that VanZant’s third BKFC outing had been postponed late in the day. “12 Gauge” was quick to address the cancellation on Instagram, insisting that she was not the party to blame.
Now, VanZant has further commented on her delayed attempt to rebound in-between the ropes. While she reiterated her annoyance at the situation, she did note that BKFC has compensated her for the postponed matchup.
“I was frustrated with the way the whole situation was handled,” VanZant told MMA Fighting. “They pulled me like three or four days before Austin’s (Vanderford) fight. I don’t know if the timeline is important to anybody, but they pulled me. I will say they’re treating me really well and they’re compensating me for the situation.”
Feldman Explains VanZant’s BKFC 27 Omission
BKFC President David Feldman also provided some insight into what led to the cancellation. After confirming that neither VanZant nor Sigala was to blame for the failed bout, Feldman suggested that an issue in the UK had contributed to the promotion’s decision.
“She 100 percent did not pull out of the fight – neither did Charisa,” Feldman told MMA Fighting from London on Thursday. “[We] had some problems here in the UK that I don’t really want to go into detail; I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus. Had some issues here, and it was just better for me to move that women’s fights back to the states. It just wasn’t going to work here in the UK.”
Having mentioned that both women had been compensated in some way for the postponement, Feldman provided a possible timeframe for the fight’s re-arrangement.
“It worked out, it is what it is. These things happen sometimes,” Feldman said. “I made it right with her and her team. I made it right with Charisa. I didn’t leave them hanging. I did everything I was supposed to do, and we’re going to have that fight later on the year, probably in the November timeframe.
“I’ll go on record saying Charisa and Paige wanted to fight, but we had to do it for the company. These things happen at times. If these things happen and we don’t make it right with the fighters, then we’re no good,” Feldman added. “If we make it right with the fighters, these things happen. This is the world we’re living in.”
While prominent combat sports figure VanZant will no longer be throwing down in front of the UK fanbase, the OVO arena crowd will still have plenty of action to enjoy, including “Venom” Page’s return to the location where he fell short of Bellator gold this past May.
Will you be watching BKFC 27 this Saturday?
