The flyweight bout between Rachael Ostovich and Paige VanZant will go on as originally planned. The highly anticipated fight, scheduled for UFC Fight Night on January 19, was initially canceled due to injuries Ostovich sustained from an alleged assault at the hands of her husband Arnold Berdon, who also an MMA fighter.
The 27-year-old Ostovich was hospitalized following the incident, which took place on the weekend of November 17, and treated for a fractured orbital bone. It was initially said that Ostovich would not be ready to fight on January 19; however, Ostovich's manager, Brian Butler-Au, told ESPN that Ostovich sought a second opinion on her injuries and has been cleared to fight.
"She never really wanted to be off of this fight. When everything happened, it was very emotional. The injuries were significant enough that, combined with the emotions of everything that was going down, we fractured to pull out of the fight. Now that things are settling out and the swelling of the injury is going down, Rachael got a second opinion and everything will work out to where she can keep this fight."
UFC president Dana White also confirmed that the fight was back on, as did Paige VanZant, who celebrated the news with a post on Twitter while also voicing support for Ostovich.
Ostovich (4-4) is 1-1 in the UFC, while VanZant, coming off of a year-long injury, is 7-4. The UFC Fight Night will take place on January 19 and will be aired on ESPN+. It's the first event of a five-year partnership between the UFC and ESPN.