BKFC
Paige VanZant storms out of ring after upset loss to Rachael Ostovich
Subscribe to DAZN now
Paige VanZant felt like she corrected the mistakes she made in her Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut in a losing effort to Britain Hart when she took on Rachael Ostovich in the main event of Friday's BKFC 19.
Ostovich had different things in mind. Her power and timing of VanZant's jab were too much as Ostovich won via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) from the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. DAZN News scored the fight 48-47 for Ostovich. After the scorecards were read, VanZant didn't shake Ostovich's hand, stormed out of the ring, and walked down the ramp into the backstage area.
Ostovich and VanZant came out in the first round tossing bombs. However, it was Ostovich who landed the harder shots in the opening stanza. VanZant had appeared to gain the momentum in the second by pumping the jab and keeping Ostovich out of range so she couldn't use her power advantage.
The tide shifted to Ostovich in the third round as she started to time VanZant. Anytime VanZant popped the jab, Ostovich would fire an overhand right and then slide out of the way to avoid a counter from the former contestant on "Dancing With The Stars". That caused VanZant to start missing shots, and Ostovich would blast her with one punch after another.
In the fourth round, Ostovich landed the hardest punch of the fight when she rocked VanZant with a right hand. VanZant's knees buckled, and Ostovich went for the finish but was unsuccessful in putting her away.
Needing a finish in the fifth and final round, VanZant didn't fight with a sense of urgency. Instead, she used the jab, and while she had two flurries in the last two minutes, it wasn't enough as Ostovich's right hand kept landing to bring home her first victory in combat sports since December 2017.
VanZant is 0-2 in BKFC since leaving the UFC and moving to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in 2020.
Here is what happened at BKFC 19.
