RACHAEL OSTOVICH has been released from the UFC after being beaten in her first fight back from an eight-month drug ban. The Hawaii-born star, 29, suffered a brutal liver kick defeat against Gina Mazany in November – her first time in the octagon since January 2019. The third-round finish in Las Vegas was her third […]
RACHAEL OSTOVICH has been released from the UFC after being beaten in her first fight back from an eight-month drug ban.
The Hawaii-born star, 29, suffered a brutal liver kick defeat against Gina Mazany in November – her first time in the octagon since January 2019.
The third-round finish in Las Vegas was her third consecutive loss in the cage.
Flyweight Ostovich had been scheduled to fight Shana Dobson in January but tested positive for banned substance Ostarine in the build-up.
Her cut from the UFC roster has been widely reported after organisation president Dana White announced a purge of 60 fighters by the end of the year.
White made the claims in the wake of Yoel Romero’s shock exit – the Cuban quit despite reportedly still having three fights left on his deal.
He said: “We’re going to have to make some serious cuts here at the end of the year.
“Probably we’re going to have 60 cuts coming up before the first of the year.”
Ostovich finishes with a 4-6 MMA record and is 1-3 in the UFC after signing on in 2017.
Before losing to Mazany she had been defeated by Paige VanZant and Montana De La Rosa.
Ostovich – who has a 2021 swimsuit calendar – hinted her November fight would be her last before she fought and subsequently got the axe, saying: “This could be my last fight – I’m looking at it in those terms. I’m feeling really good.
“No gyms are open in Hawaii and even without Covid, living on an island made things harder.
“I don’t even know how that whole (doping) situation even happened.
“The thing with USADA’s technology is that it’s so good that it can allow them to trace things to years and years back, things you consumed unknowingly.”
