‘I wanted to do it on my own terms’: Combat queen Paige VanZant explains motivations behind x-rated fan site (PHOTOS)

Bare knuckle sensation Paige VanZant says that her decision to flaunt her figure in a series of steamy snaps for her OnlyFans-style subscription website has financially liberated her after a six-year stint in the UFC.

Buxom blonde VanZant, 27, was already one of the fight game's sex symbols after being featured on popular reality series 'Dancing with the Stars' and gracing the pages of Sports Illustrated's popular swimsuit edition – but for much of her career, she says that she resisted calls to show too much skin online or elsewhere.

However, after publicly raising concerns about the status of her paychecks in the UFC, VanZant took her leave from the company last year and signed a bumper deal with the upstart fight league Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) to become the latest high profile ex-UFC fighter to try their hands – literally – in bareknuckle boxing.

She says she quickly realized that there were numerous alternative avenues in which she could make an extra buck – which eventually led to the launch of her own subscription fan site, where her knuckles aren't the only part of her anatomy which is bare.

"I had my whole career built off the UFC," VanZant explained to MMA Fighting. 

"I was in the UFC for like six years. It was very nerve-wracking. There weren’t a lot of people who left the UFC in the prime of their career.

"There were a lot of veterans that had left the UFC that were kind of on that tail end, looking for a few more fights.

"For me, I was a free agent at 26 years old. I was really young. It was nerve-wracking to know you’re leaving the powerhouse of combat sports. But now I know it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

"Since I’ve left, I’ve seen multiple fighters leave the UFC – and it’s not a diss at the UFC necessarily, but I think it’s more an awakening in fighters, knowing there’s money out there and we’re going to be compensated for what we’re doing."

VanZant says that she fended off calls to launch an exclusive content subscription website for fear that it could potentially harm future brand partnerships she might pursue, but confesses she changed her tune once she was made aware of the financial benefits.

"There was always this back and forth," she said. "There are two sides of it. I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I would lose business opportunities based on having an exclusive content site, but I feel like I’m already seen as a sex symbol in the sports world.

"I might as well have the monetization behind it. I wanted to do it on my own terms.

"So I actually joined Fan Time, it’s a separate company. I’m not with OnlyFans. It’s my own website and I have a lot of control over what goes on there. It’s basically me doing exclusive things. I’m proud to say I’m part of it.

"I work hard for my body. I work hard for who I am, and there’s a side of me that’s extremely girly and feminine, and I get to share that on my fan site. Now I think it’s becoming a lot more acceptable.

"Before, the OnlyFans was seen more for just like porn stars. It was a little bit more x-rated, just the view from the public.

"Not saying that’s actually what people have on there, but I wanted to do it my own way. I wanted to do it professionally and have my own website and that’s what I’ve done."

VanZant's bare knuckle boxing career continues next month when she takes on Rachael Ostovich in a rematch of their UFC fight several years ago, when she will be hoping to claim her first win in the organization after an unsuccessful debut in February against Britain Hart.

Regardless of the result, VanZant says that she has finally found financial independence in her winding path through the fight game.

"I will say when I signed with BKFC, I was making more money than I had made in my entire UFC career,” she said. "Now I’m making more money than my entire BKFC contract in, like, a month. It’s pretty crazy."