‘Short Fuse’ Saved ‘12 Gauge’ From Jailbird Stalker

Turns out the “influencer” tripod is not the worst thing in the gym.

Especially for a celebrity like Paige VanZant. The former UFC strawweight was forced to deal with a crazed stalker who joined American Top Team (ATT) with the goal of meeting “12 Gauge” — and taking creepy photos of the one-time AEW star while she was training.

I guess that was the only thing keeping him afloat in the clink.

“I had a stalker, a big-time stalker,” VanZant said on her YouTube podcast (transcribed by talkSPORT). “I’m training and I notice this guy watching me the whole time. Instantly I got the vibe, this guy is f***ing weird, staring at me the whole time. I thought he’s a fan so you try to be nice. Of course, people can be nervous. It was the prime of my UFC career, maybe he was just a fan and was nervous.”

“He comes over and starts talking to me,” VanZant continued. “He’s like, ‘Hey, how are you? I’m so happy to meet you or I’m so happy that we’re together’. I was like, ‘Oh, okay’. I was like, ‘What’s your name?’. He was like, ‘It’s blah blah blah, we’ve been talking on Instagram for years’. I was like, ‘What?’ I go in the back and open the messages. He’s been messaging me every single day, at least 10 to 20 messages for the last four years. Every day he would message and message and message about how we’re meant to be together. About how Allah told him we were meant to be together and how he was thinking about me the entire time he was in jail.”

Fortunately for VanZant, and husband Austin Vanderford — sidelined with a broken hand at the time of the incident — longtime UFC bruiser Ed Herman took care of business. “Short Fuse confronted the creep and told him to hit the bricks, or get bricked, and VanZant was released from her shackles from that point forward.

Maybe he’s back in the slammer, sharing a cell with this “Future” freak.