UFC’s Paige VanZant finishes second on ‘Dancing With The Stars’

UFC strawweight Paige VanZant may not have a UFC title in her immediate future, but on Tuesday night, she came justthisclose to a different kind of championship: a Dancing With The Stars title.

After scoring a perfect 30 in her final dance with partner Mark Ballas, combined with a 59 from Monday’s show and fan voting, she and Ballas lost to overall winner Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd and third place finishers Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy. DiMarco was lauded for competing at a high level despite being deaf. They didn’t reveal the fan voting, but PVZ and Ballas were slightly in the lead before that was taken into the equation.

Despite a dancing background, PVZ wasn’t seen as an immediate favorite when the latest season of the ABC hit kicked off several months ago. But week by week, she continued to score big and finished consistently near the top of the weekly competitions. 

Just 22 years old and coming off a devastating loss to Rose Namajunas in December, she was announced as joining the Kickboxer cast this week and seems closer to Hollywood and non-fighting opportunities than an impending UFC return. 

Featherweight contender and teammate Chad Mendes was shown several times in the audience.