Reebok must have been delighted with Paige VanZant's controversial Twitter video two weeks ago.
Although it was eventually deleted, VanZant's provocative post promoting the latest line of workout gear from the UFC's official sports apparel partner made plenty of headlines and garnered more than enough publicity for Reebok.
The 11th-ranked strawweight in the world recorded herself writhing around on a white rug, lifting up her shirt and running her hand over her body in a suggestive manner, which resulted in waves of criticism from her fellow fighters.
https://twitter.com/AngieOverkill/status/858702330543210496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffellow-fighters-criticise-paige-vanzant-for-suggestive-reebok-video-on-twitter-feed-123813
https://twitter.com/LaurenMurphyMMA/status/858706156654436352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffellow-fighters-criticise-paige-vanzant-for-suggestive-reebok-video-on-twitter-feed-123813
https://twitter.com/JeremyKennedyWC/status/858716109679112192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffellow-fighters-criticise-paige-vanzant-for-suggestive-reebok-video-on-twitter-feed-123813
The post did not exist for long though before it was pulled down, replaced by a screenshot, but nothing is ever deleted from the internet and the video can still be found on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2XIoFOm-nc
VanZant spoke out about the video this week, and insisted that she didn't take any notice of the criticism.
The 23-year-old Team Alpha Male prospect also maintains that she was not the one who decided to remove the video from her social media but it was merely the work of a concerned mother.
"Actually, I haven’t seen anything that people responded, so I post things and just kinda forget about it,” VanZant told
MMA Fighting. "Definitely it was funny. I never anticipated that kind of reaction, so I had no idea. My manager, my mom, somebody told me about it. But, no, I just thought it was funny."
"No, I didn’t even delete it,” VanZant added. "Somebody else, I don’t know how. I think my mom deleted it, so it’s my mom being a mom...
"I pretty much kind of do whatever I want. It was me being funny, I thought."
The clip was even mocked by former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who offered his own sensual version of a Reebok advertisement to his 750,000 Instagram followers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTrlw0ghZ1T/?taken-by=chrisweidmanufc
