Paige VanZant to make return to octagon at UFC Brooklyn
Paige VanZant defeated Felice Herrig by unanimous decision in a women's strawweight bout at UFC on Fox 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on April 18, 2015. Credit: Newsday/Mario Gonzalez
In her last fight, Paige VanZant suffered a loss and a broken arm.
Twelve months and two surgeries later, including a second procedure that involved inserting bone fragments from her hip into her arm, the 24-year-old VanZant is ready for a return to the UFC.
VanZant will face Rachael Ostovich-Berdon in a flyweight bout at UFC Brooklyn at Barclays Center on Jan. 19, according to a UFC official on Monday. It marks both the first UFC card of 2019 as well as its first event on ESPN+, which takes over as the mixed martial arts promotion's broadcast partner after 2018.
VanZant (7-4, 4-3 UFC) has lost her last two fights, a first-round to submission to Michelle Waterson in December 2016, and more recently, a unanimous decision to Jessica-Rose Clark in January of 2018.
Ostovich-Berdon, an "Ultimate Fighter" Season 26 contestant from Hawaii, lost via third-round submission to Montana De La Rosa in her most recent bout last July.
MMAFighting.com had reported this fight as being in the works last August.
The fight card so far also includes a welterweight bout between Belal Muhammad and Geoff Neal.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
