UFC, BKFC veteran Paige VanZant signs with All Elite Wrestling

Paige VanZant is All Elite.

The UFC and BKFC veteran inked a deal to join the roster at All Elite Wrestling on Wednesday night, with AEW president Tony Khan confirming the deal via Twitter.

The 27-year-old fighter has been making sporadic appearances in AEW since 2021 as part of an angle involving several of her training partners out of American Top Team in Florida alongside ATT owner Dan Lambert.

In her official introduction while signing her contract, VanZant engaged in a new storyline with Tay Conti, the real life girlfriend and on-screen manager to wrestler Sammy Guevara. VanZant was on AEW Dynamite Wednesday, after Guevara’s loss to Scorpio Sky in an AEW TNT match. Lambert is Guevara’s on-screen manager.

It appears VanZant is preparing for an eventual showdown against Conti as part of her first storyline now that she’s part of the AEW roster.

VanZant expressed her interest in professional wrestling long before she began her UFC career.

After exiting the UFC in 2020, VanZant signed a lucrative multi-fight deal with BKFC to compete in bare-knuckle boxing, where she’s currently amassed an 0-2 record with the promotion. MMA Fighting was told earlier in the year by David Feldman, president of BKFC that he expects VanZant will return to the ring late spring/early summer. However, it seems that she might be delayed due to her agreement with AEW.

BKFC representatives did not reply to MMA Fighting’s request for comment about VanZant joining AEW.

It’s expected that VanZant will begin to train in professional wrestling for her official in-ring debut with AEW, although the overall terms of her deal are still unknown at this time.