Paige VanZant talks about the road to recovery from her second surgery.

VanZant hasn’t competed since Jan. 2018. That’s because she has been recovering from a broken arm. “12 Gauge” had to undergo two surgeries, with the last one being completed in July. The earliest VanZant will return is early 2019. She says the UFC’s ESPN debut lines up with her time frame, but nothing has been made official.

The women’s flyweight recently discussed how difficult it was to accept having to undergo surgery a second time:

“It was super devastating being told that I had to go in for surgery a second time. I felt very defeated because I had to go through the healing process all over again. It was like the first six months was a total waste. I have been very careful after this surgery making sure I’m doing everything perfectly with recovery and getting back into the cage at 100 percent.”

VanZant has gone 1-3 in her last four outings. She hasn’t picked up a win since Aug. 2016. VanZant was reported to take on Rachael Ostovich for the UFC’s debut on ESPN, but “12 Gauge” hasn’t fully committed to the date. Time will tell when VanZant steps back inside the Octagon, but she will definitely be hoping to end her misfortune in competition. Stick with MMA News for the latest updates on VanZant’s next fight as they become available.