UFC fighter Paige VanZant is preparing for the biggest fight of her life - a better pay deal for women.

The American has one fight left on her current contract but believes her next deal should see a significant improvement.

VanZant has won eight out of 12 MMA fights but has been out of the game since February after breaking her arm.

The 25 year-old said: “If I’m going to keep breaking my arms, if I’m going to keep bleeding and sacrificing for this sport, I think that all fighters - and all female fighters - need to be recognised.

“All of us should be paid more in general, especially women and especially based on your star power.

“Five wins in the UFC, four finishes, I’ve been main event twice and I think someone with those accolades should be paid more.

According to Forbes the highest-paid man at UFC241, Stipe Miocic, earned a fee of $750,000, compared to the $28,000 for the highest paid woman Hannah Cifers. 

VanZant made the case for a better deal after announcing that she gets more from social media endorsements with a following of 2.3 million.

“The hard thing for me to put in perspective is with endorsements I make way more money sitting at home posting pictures on Instagram than I do fighting.

“With everything I pull in from social media, if I were to stop everything I do outside of fighting and take a fight, I would be at a loss financially,” she added.