Former UFC veteran and current BKFC star Paige VanZant opened up about some of the mental health struggles she’s been dealing with recently.
VanZant spoke candidly about her mental health in a new YouTube series about her and her husband Austin Vanderford’s life. She said the following about what she was feeling and going through mentally after her unanimous decision loss to Rachel Ostovich in their rematch at BKFC 19.
“When I walked out of the ring, I didn’t just walk to my locker room, I literally walked all the way outside and I just went and cried in the parking lot by myself,” VanZant said (h/t MMAFighting). “I said some things to my husband that are pretty terrible about like my mental state. I told him I didn’t want to live anymore, that this wasn’t for me anymore. Like life wasn’t for me anymore so I was disappointed, It was hard. I’m bummed out, bummed out to say the least. Everyone expects me to lose and everyone expects me to fail. I don’t know, I just feel like people have this specific perception of who I am and especially online. It’s crazy how much people can hate on a single person. I just don’t get it. I pride myself on being a good person. I think that’s the most important thing for me. I never talk bad about my opponents. I never say a single negative thing about their character. You never know what somebody’s going through. You never know what someone’s on the verge of. People like me struggle a lot, everybody does. Mental health is no joke and I need to start taking my mental health more seriously. Losses suck and going through hard times it’s not fun but it does get better and you can get through it and life goes on.”
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