Paige VanZant opens up on scary stalker incident at American Top Team: “Allah told him we were meant to be together”

BKFC women’s featherweight contender Paige VanZant is opening up on a scary stalker she had to deal with.

Despite being gone from the UFC since 2021, ’12 Gauge’ is still one of the biggest names in women’s MMA. That’s largely due to Paige VanZant’s online content, and massive success on OnlyFans. However, she continues to compete in the BKFC ring and has shown an interest in a move to boxing in recent months.

The former UFC strawweight currently trains at American Top Team and has done so since 2017. Speaking on a recent edition of her podcast, Paige VanZant revealed that a stalker once visited her at the gym, and things quickly out of hand. Relaying the story, the BKFC fighter revealed that the man had been messaging her for years, but she never noticed.

According to Paige VanZant, the man messaged her every day for around four years. He had even bought a membership to the gym, to meet and take pictures of the fighter. However, after former UFC light-heavyweight Ed Herman noticed the man harassing VanZant, he ordered him to leave.

Unsurprisingly, the stalker did exactly that. VanZant added that she hadn’t heard from the man since being threatened by ‘Short Fuse’ at American Top Team that day. For his sake, that’s probably a smart decision.

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BKFC’s Paige VanZant opens up on scary stalker incident at American Top Team

“I had a stalker, a big-time stalker,” Paige VanZant stated on the podcast, reflecting on the incident. “I’m training and I notice this guy watching me the whole time. Instantly, I got the vibe, this guy is f***ing weird staring at me the whole time. I thought he’s a fan so you try to be nice. Of course, people can be nervous. It was the prime of my UFC career, maybe he was just a fan and was nervous.” (h/t TalkSport)

She continued, “He comes over and starts talking to me. He’s like, ‘Hey, how are you? I’m so happy to meet you or I’m so happy that we’re together’. I was like, ‘Oh, okay’. I was like, ‘What’s your name?’. He was like, ‘It’s blah blah blah, we’ve been talking on Instagram for years’. I was like, ‘What?’”.

“I go in the back [of the gym] and open the messages. He has been messaging every single day. At least 10 to 20 messages for the last four years. Every day he would message and message and message about how we’re meant to be together. About how Allah told him we were meant to be together and how he was thinking about me the entire time he was in jail.”

What do you make of this incident? Who do you want to see Paige VanZant fight in BKFC next?