After initially refuting a report she would be fighting Rachael Ostovich at the inaugural UFC event on ESPN this January by calling it “fake news,” Paige VanZant has some good new for fight fans.
“12 Gauge” took to her You Tube channel to announce she has been medically cleared to resume training and would indeed be making her mixed martial arts (MMA) comeback at the beginning of 2019.
“The verdict is I can go for it. I can punch people again – well I’m not able to punch people yet – but in like six weeks I can punch people. But I can start training and working out again and I’m going to be fighting in January,” shed said via MMA Junkie, though she didn’t confirm the obvious opponent.
“I can officially announce, you heard it here first, that I will be taking a fight on Jan. 18 on the first-ever ESPN card,” VanZant said. “We’re going to be getting an opponent matched up.”
VanZant hasn’t competed since losing to Jessica Rose-Clark back back in January at UFC Fight Night 124. A fight in which she suffered a broken arm that has kept her sidelined since. As for Rachael, she was last seen losing to Montana de la Rosa this past July, bringing her record to 1-1.
The fight — if indeed booked — will be one of the first fights to be aired on ESPN thanks to the network’s multi-million dollar deal with the world wide leader in sports.