Khabib vs Paige VanZant? UFC lists America’s Sweetheart as LIGHTWEIGHT on official site

A fighter’s weight can be the most tricky part of their fight career, with endless dieting and cutting. But for Paige VanZant it became a problem when the UFC listed her as a 155 lbs lightweight, the division ruled by Khabib.

When your boss forgets your personal information it can be pretty embarrassing. Getting someone’s name wrong is awkward. Forgetting someone’s birthday can be offensive. But for a mixed martial artist, if the promotion you fight for gets your weight wrong, the results can be disastrous.

That’s exactly what happened with Paige VanZant, the 8-4 UFC fighter, when the promotion listed her weight as 155lbs on its official site, putting her in the lightweight division whose champion is Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Having been sent a screenshot by a fan, VanZant, known as ‘America’s Sweetheart’, posted a distressed story on Instagram showing her fighter profile on the UFC.com official site, pointing out the mistakes made by the world’s biggest MMA promotion, including listing her as part of ‘Team Alpha Male’, whom she left some time ago.

But the most egregious misinformation on the page was the fact VanZant’s weight was given at a whole 30lbs north of her 125lbs flyweight division limit, which would see her pitted against the likes of Khabib, Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje.

“I was like ‘that’s not possible. I thought they edited the picture to get a response from me,” VanZant says. “I’m not at Team Alpha Male anymore, which is fine you know teams change,” she continued, checking off her height, age and reach were all correct, before breaking into giggles at her weight being listed at a whopping 155 lbs.

Instagram / Paige VanZant

Not only is the wrong weight printed on her fighter profile, but it turns out it also features on a page listing her matchup with Amanda Ribas, whom she is set to face on July 11. “I’m so confused,” the 26-year-old jokes. 

Khabib recently revealed he will make an announcement about his future soon, having been in limbo over his next title defence since the outbreak of Covid-19 put paid to his fight with Tony Ferguson.

Should the Dagestani champ announce his next tussle will be with a pumped-up Paige, we're sure it will be the biggest shock seen inside or outside the octagon.