Paige VanZant Explains Importance Of Rachael Ostovich Fight

Paige VanZant explains the importance of her next fight this weekend. She meets Rachael Ostovich on the main card of UFC on ESPN+.

VanZant is preparing to make her return to the Octagon under the UFC banner after being out of action for quite some time. She walked away with a unanimous decision loss to Jessica-Rose Clark in the co-main event of UFC St. Louis (Fight Night 124).

Many people believe that if PVZ can get it done come fight night, then it would put her back in the position where she’s a star of the future of the UFC due to her still being young. During a recent interview, Paige explained that this is a fight that could allow her to remind people how good she is. Also, to prove why she belongs in the UFC.

“This one is more important, I feel, than any fight,” VanZant told MMA Fighting. “This one is as just as important as my very first fight in the UFC ever. I need to show everybody who I am and why I belong in the UFC. I feel like fighting is a career where athletes are easily forgotten. If you’re not in front of the crowds, then people don’t remember your name.

“I’ve been out for a year and I still have those fans who have stuck by me. But I need to show everybody and the new fans of the UFC why I belong there. I feel like this is the fight I have to prove myself with. And of course it couldn’t be at a more exciting time, being the first ESPN card, being able to fight in New York.”

Expectations

UFC on ESPN+ 1 (also known as UFC Fight Night 143) will be held on January 19, 2019, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. This event marks the first show to be broadcast on the network’s digital streaming platform ESPN+.

VanZant understands that this is a big fight for her and is excited to share the Octagon with Ostovich.

“It’s an exciting fight for me,” VanZant said. “She has such a big name within the UFC. I think that obviously this is a fight a lot of male fans really like. I’m excited that me and her can go out there and put on a show. I have met her in person and she’s a super, super nice person. So I’m excited we get to share an Octagon together and try to rip each other’s heads off.”