‘Extra spicy’ Paige VanZant wows with latest beach snaps, but confirms 3-month layoff

UFC flyweight Paige VanZant has wowed fans with her latest bikini offering before confirming she will be out of action for around three months to undergo surgery on her right arm.

MMA star VanZant – who owns an 8-4 pro record – set pulses racing when she posed for Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit edition earlier this year.

She later explained she had made the modelling move because she could “only hide so much of her girliness.”

VanZant again put that "girliness" on display in an Instagram post to her 2.2 million followers over the weekend, in which she posed on the beach in a turquoise bikini.

“I’m not medium hot, I’m extra spicy,” the fighter captioned the pic.

But the fan-pleasing post was followed by less auspicious news on Monday, when VanZant confirmed that a fracture sustained in sparring would require surgery, ruling her out for around three months.

That would scupper her previous hopes of making an Octagon return in July, she told ESPN.     

"I wanted to be on the UFC card on July 20 in Texas, but my chiropractor wanted me to get my arm checked out again before accepting a fight,” she said.

“I saw a surgeon who works with [NBA team] the Portland Trail Blazers, and he told me, 'Yes, you 100 percent need surgery.'”

It will be her third operation in the past 18 months, after two surgeries last year when she suffered a broken right arm.

VanZant, 25, last fought against Rachael Ostovich at UFC Fight Night 143 back in January, when she claimed a second-round submission victory.

She told ESPN that she had just one fight remaining on her current contract with the promotion, but was aiming to negotiate a new one.

"I want to continue to show them how much I'm worth, and I think I need this last fight on my contract to show that,” she said.

Given her popularity inside and outside the Octagon, it seems the UFC would be keen to retain VanZant’s services for much longer to come.