Paige VanZant Says She Can Relate To Mark Ballas 'DWTS' Injury

Paige VanZant arrives for a new day of practice at the dance studio in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon (March 30).

The 22-year-old UFC fighter met up with both pro partner Mark Ballas and temp partner Alan Bersten to work on her Most Memorable Week routine.

“This really is a different experience (being on the show compared to fighting). But for me, fighting’s kind of comparable to this. I’ve had fighters drop out of fights and you have to get ready for a new opponent, and then I’ve also had the same back injury that Mark has and I had to postpone my UFC debut,” Paige shared with MMAJunkie after Monday night’s show, which showed how Mark was injured.

She continued, “Anything can happen. But it’s a good experience, and I’m just trying to go out there and have fun and do the best with everything I can, and hopefully it can lead to other UFC fighters getting opportunities like this.”

Paige added about dancing with Alan, “They don’t have (specific) understudies for each (pro dancer). Mark got to choose who he wanted to perform with me, and Alan was the best choice. He said that he’s a really, really good dancer. And it was his first time being with a star on the show. He had only been with the troupe dancers doing the little dances here and there throughout the night. So he was very, very excited and it was really fun.”

30+ pics inside of Paige, Alan and Mark…