UFC star Paige VanZant has shared painful pictures of the worrying weight cuts she went through to fight at just over 52kg.
The stunning American MMA fighter used to sweat down to 115 pounds for fights in the women's strawweight division.
But the physical toll it took on the 163cmUFC star was posing a serious threat to her health with the dramatic dehydration involved being linked to kidney and brain damage.
VanZant lost two of her last three fights at strawweight and there were fears that she was shot at the tender age of 23.
But she is now moving up to the MMA promotion's new female flyweight division that will allow her to carry a few extra kilograms.
Alongside a photo from one of her previous weight cuts, VanZant wrote: "115lb Paige? Ain't nobody got time for that!! Haha I can't wait to wreck shop at 125!!!! Who agrees????" And in September she revealed she was "killing herself" with the weight cuts she was going through.
"It's a big cut for me," the UFC pin-up said. "I'm a lot heavier than people realise. I was honestly killing myself for this sport.
"In my last I want to say two fights or three fights, I've passed out in my bathroom.
"This last one, I passed out and had the doctors almost not cleared me for the fight.
"The 125 pound division is finally getting built, so it just made sense for me to try it out.
"I'm moving up. I'm a big advocate for body positivity and I was putting myself through an eating disorder to make weight. And it became not fun for me anymore. I hate cutting. I hated the process.
"Obviously, passing out on your bathroom floor is not fun, because you're dying in a bathtub."
Paige Van Zant slumped on a bathroom floor during a drastic weight cut. Photo / Instagram.
