‘Not scared of how hard she hits’: Ex-UFC stunners VanZant & Ostovich speak before ‘brutal’ bare-knuckle weekend showdown (VIDEO)
Combat sports pin-ups Paige VanZant and Rachael Ostovich have spoken ahead of their blockbuster bare-knuckle showdown this weekend, with VanZant claiming she does not fear the punching power of her rival.
Both leaving the elite UFC and finding their way to its more brutal bare-knuckle rival, VanZant said as part of a promo that she doesn't believe her last ever win in the octagon over Ostovich, which came via an armbar submission in January 2019, will have any bearing on their next meeting in Florida this weekend.
"Going into this, it’s not a rematch because it’s a completely different style of fighting," the 27-year-old VanZant began.
"It’s bare-knuckle boxing, it’s not MMA… I’m not scared of how hard she hits because I’ve been hit by her before."
"I think it’s a pretty easy sell, watching Rachel and I fight," she suggested, after previously saying "come for the boobs, stay for the violence" when the bout was announced.
"We’re two people who have continuously been told we shouldn’t fight based on our looks.
"And obviously we’re going in there to do the most violent sport on earth right now, which is bare-knuckle boxing."
"Honestly, I did not want to do bare-knuckle fighting," Ostovich admitted ahead of her BKFC debut.
"I thought it was brutal and crazy, and I still think all those things.
"But when they offered me to fight Paige, I was like 'yeah, I wanna get that one back, I wanna come out on top this time, and show everyone I am the better fighter, especially in the stand-up game.’
"The last time we met in the UFC I did feel like I had the advantage and the edge in the stand up. There was a lot of outside things going on, I went into that fight as a broken person, emotionally and physically," the Hawaiian claimed.
"I never use that as an excuse, but that’s just like facts. I’m going into this fight with a whole different mindset and physically unscathed," she went on.
"This fight I’m a lot more confident. The warrior in me is definitely intrigued with this style, I’m learning new things every day.
"I’ve got the heavier hands, I’ve got that knockout power. It’s quick, you could get knocked out with just one punch. It’s serious, we’re not playing around here. She’s going for the knockout and so am I."
Back with the PVZ camp, the self-proclaimed 'Mr. VanZant', Austin Vanderford, stated he was "pumped up for the fight" and "excited" about his wife's chances, despite VanZant suffering a decision defeat on her BKFC debut back in February.
"I love going out watching her fight. I know how tough she is, she’s got that talent," said Bellator MMA middleweight Vanderford.
"If she goes off and starts off in round one like I know she can, she’s going to finish it in two rounds. It’s just going out there and believing in herself," Vanderford finished.
