The Women’s Bare Fist fight between Paige VanZant and Rachael Ostovich will be the main event of Bare Knuckle FC 19 on 23 July.
BKFC announced this week that the VanZant vs. Ostovich rematch will take place on July 23 at BKFC 19. It’s a rematch of the pair’s fight at UFC on ESPN+ 1 in January 2019, which VanZant won via second-round tapout. This time around, the two will meet in the BKFC ring with no grappling involved. It’s a striking-only fight and considering the popularity of both women, it figures to be one of the biggest fights that BKFC will hold this summer.
Taking to their social media after the announcement of the fight, VanZant and Ostovich both reacted to their upcoming fight.
Come for the boobies, stay for the violence. OFFICIAL: @PaigeVanZant Welcomes @RachaelOstovich to the BKFC this July at #BKFC19
It’s a Fight girl summer for meeeeeee. Let’s run this back real quick. See y’all July 23rd. @bareknucklefc
VanZant made her BKFC debut earlier this year when she took on Britain Hart, but she lost a unanimous decision in that fight. As for Ostovich, she will be making her BKFC debut in this fight after spending the last several years fighting in the Octagon. However, she was released this year following a TKO loss to Gina Mazany in her last fight. Although VanZant and Ostovich aren’t the most high-level strikers, there is no doubt there will be a big appetite among fight fans for this rematch just because both women are big names in the world of women’s combat sports. VanZant won the first fight by submission, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the rematch given that it’s a striking-only affair.