5 female UFC fighters who are tougher than they look

#2 Paige VanZant

Paige VanZant has competed on Dancing With The Stars - but she's tougher than she looks

Over her 5-year UFC career, Paige VanZant has received plenty of criticism from fans of the UFC who feel she gets an unfair push from the promotion, who are simply attempting to capitalise on her good looks rather than her fighting skills. While ’12 Gauge’ admittedly hasn’t proven herself as a title contender, to write her off in that way would be thoroughly unfair.

VanZant – a former model who’s also starred on Dancing With The Stars, finishing second in the 2016 edition of the show – holds a solid record of 7-4 and her losses to Tecia Torres, Michelle Waterson and current UFC Strawweight champ Rose Namajunas are absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. She also has big wins over hardened veterans like Felice Herrig and Bec Rawlings.

It was in her loss to Namajunas that VanZant really demonstrated her insane toughness, though. Despite being outgrappled throughout the fight and taking a tremendous beating, ’12 Gauge’ hung in there and refused to go away without a fight – finally being forced to tap out to a rear naked choke in the 5th round. Despite taking an incredible beatdown, VanZant proved that she’s far tougher than her cute looks would suggest.