Screenshot : Hawaii News Now

Hawaii News Now published excerpts from a nine-minute cell phone video allegedly showing what happened on the night UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich was severely beaten by her husband Arnold Berdon, also a professional MMA fighter. The video was supposedly recorded by a witness who heard Ostovich scream for help, and while it’s mostly a black screen, you can hear someone screaming and someone being attacked. Hawaii News Now reports that Ostovich goes silent in the video because she’d been beaten unconscious.


At one point, a man, allegedly Berdon, can be heard saying “I’m going to murder you. I’m going to fucking murder you.” The video eventually shows a nude Ostovich escaping by falling 10 feet off a porch and running away. Honolulu police initially recommended an attempted murder charge for Berdon, though prosecutors eventually charged him with felony second-degree assault; he is pleading not guilty. Berdon is out on $75,000 bond, and a trial is scheduled for early next year.

Berdon’s attorney told Hawaii News Now the downgrade was justified. “There are times when they over reach and this is one of those,” he said. “Arnold Berdon and his wife had a relationship. It was acrimonious, there’s no question about that. The face that DV officials or advocates want something is neither here nor there. They’re not the attorneys that have to try the case.”


Ostovich is still scheduled to fight Paige VanZant next month on the UFC’s first ESPN card, which also features the debut of Greg Hardy, for some reason.