It’s long been said, hopefully, that chicks dig scars. Paige VanZant has her Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships debut on February 5, three-fight BKFC vet Britain Hart. In BKB, there will be scars, but in a recent interview with Damon Martin for MMA Fighting, PVZ, a part-time model, was entirely unconcerned.

I think the hard thing is the regular fan, not necessarily educated in martial arts or educated in the medical field, they see blood and immediately see it as a terrible injury, said VanZant. Whereas for me, I would much rather be cut open than break my arm or break my knuckle or tear my shoulder or tear my knee.

Those are all things that take a very long time to heal whereas a laceration, I got cut in my face in one fight — one you can barely tell, and two I heard statistically that scars make you more attractive. It’s not a big deal. Those heal and you just continue on. Faces heal really well, your body heals itself really well.

I feel like for me, this wasn’t about proving anything. This is truly just about going out there and having fun. That’s what it was at the beginning of my MMA, beginning of my UFC career. There wasn’t anybody I had to prove wrong. I was just going out there to try this because I didn’t know how long fighting was going to last for me. I was so young and so new to this sport.

So here, it’s kind of the same thing. I’m just going to go out there and have fun and I’m doing something that I’m passionate about. I’m doing it because I love it and nothing else matters.

PVZ entered free agency coming off a loss, but she had all the boys in her yard. There was surprise when she didn’t sign with Bellator MMA, where her husband Austin Vanderford fights. 

There was a few different things and you mentioned a few of them — the money, the passion part of it, said VanZant. It wasn’t just one thing that led me towards signing with BKFC. Of course, Bellator, when I was nearing the end of my UFC career, I did kind of anticipate that I would be signing with Bellator. I love the way that they treat my husband.

They’re an amazing promotion and they came with a really awesome offer. It was hard to turn that down, especially knowing that I was walking away from my husband and I fighting for the same promotion, which is just so cool. For me, there was so many different factors.

One, the pay was great, they came with a really good offer. There was other pieces of my career, like I do really love striking and this is a moment in my career where I can just focus on striking, which is so much fun. My arm, I’ve broken my arm three times and every time I broke it was an MMA injury, not striking or boxing injury or I guess it was a striking injury, just not straight boxing. Like someone throwing a flying knee at me, I don’t have to worry about that now. It’s like this moment where I can be so passionate and not have to worry about re-injuring myself. I can just go out there and compete.

The passion part of it. I did know that people were going to expect me to sign with Bellator. Everyone know like ‘oh Paige is going to Bellator,’ it was kind of this obvious thing and I am like I am going to shock the world and I am so excited about it.

Honestly, I’m really excited about this matchup. It was going back and forth between who my opponent was going to be. BKFC wasn’t really sure, there was a lot of talk about who it would be. I’m really excited with the person they settled with, especially for the debut. I’m going into her world, something she’s already competed at. She’s fought for the title. She fought a split decision with Bec Rawlings, who we all know is extremely talented. People should know this Britain chick, she’s no joke absolutely.

I think that’s what makes me rise to the occasion more. I know I have to take this so seriously because I know how tough she is. That’s the thing, I’m coming to fight the best of the best and I’m super excited that I get to go into her world and take over. I think it’s going to be the perfect debut for me.