Yahoo Sports Rachael Ostovich's ex-husband sentenced to probation after domestic violence incident
MMA fighter Arnold Berdon was sentenced to four years of probation on Thursday after he pled no contest to a charge of assaulting his ex-wife, UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich, last year, according to the Associated Press.
Ostovich was hospitalized in November after the domestic violence incident at her home in Hawaii, which left her with a broken orbital bone.
A nearly 10-minute video of the attack, taken by a witness, surfaced in December. In the video, Ostovich’s cries for help can be heard along with repeated blows from Berdon while he threatened her repeatedly, at one point yelling, “I’m going to f---ing murder you.” Most of the video was dark, however Ostovich could be seen falling “about 10 feet from a lanai before getting up and stumbling away nude” at the end.
Ostovich, according to the report, coughed up blood and threw up several times after the attack. She later filed for a temporary restraining order and divorce. That divorce was finalized on Wednesday, and Ostovich was granted full custody of their six-year-old daughter.
Deputy Honolulu prosecuting attorney Robert Rawson initially asked for Berdon to be sentenced to five years in prison.
“This wasn’t a single act, it wasn’t a single punch. This was a sustained brutal assault,” Rawson said, via the Associated Press. “For nearly 10 minutes, the defendant assaulted the victim while she begged for him to stop.”
Ostovich, per the report, did not ask for additional jail time. A judge also credited Berdon for two days he spent in jail after the attack, and said he “doesn’t need additional time behind bars to be motivated to do the right thing.”
Berdon’s attorney, Myles Breiner, said that Berdon was “deeply troubled by what he heard” in the video of the attack.
“Granted, they both had been drinking that night, but it doesn’t change the fact that although both of them are professional mixed martial arts fighters and intoxicated, the fact that it rose to the level that his wife had to jump off the balcony ... to run for safety, still troubles Arnold,” Breiner said, via the Associated Press. “He thinks about it all the time.”
Ostovich currently boasts a 4-5 record in the UFC. The 28-year-old flyweight last fought in January against Paige VanZant — a bout she initially pulled out of due to the attack, but later returned to “take a stand against domestic violence" — but fell in two rounds.
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