‘I looked like a crackhead’: Bare knuckle’s Ostovich ravenous after leaving very little to imagination in VanZant face-off (VIDEO)

Ahead of her shot at revenge for her UFC defeat against fellow ex-MMA star Paige VanZant, Rachael Ostovich has celebrated being able to eat bread again after looking trim in a weigh-in and face-off against her abs-wielding rival.

Both fighters looked impressive as they weighed in a shade under the 130lb lightweight limit at which they will headline Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) 19, meeting for the second time in their careers in a battle of two of the most heavily-followed scrappers on social media and an opportunity for Ostovich to make it 1-1 in the series.

Ostovich confessed that she had made sacrifices to make weight, likening what she perceived as her gauntness to a drug addict as she addressed her Instagram following of more than 793,000 after posing in a skimpy Adidas outfit on the scales.

"It's so nice to eat bread and carbohydrates," she said ahead of her BKFC debut.

"I feel so good – my cheeks are filled out again, thank god. I was looking like a crackhead.

"Thanks for coming out today and supporting your girl, and also for all the love online. You guys are amazing. I can't wait to perform tomorrow, the hard part is done."

VanZant won via a second-round armbar submission when the photogenic pair met in the UFC in January 2019 – one of only two fights for Ostovich with the promotion, culminating in a defeat to Gina Mazany last November.

The online sensation, who lost to Amanda Ribas in her subsequent fight in July 2020 before leaving the UFC, wore a less revealing outfit of tracksuit bottoms and a sports bra as she reacquainted herself with one of the only fighters who has a following anywhere near her fanbase of almost three million.

Devout Christian VanZant quoted a bible verse as she reported back from the weigh-in ahead of the fight at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, promising: "Time for violence. Tomorrow we go to war."

Ostovich said that she had been training with a broken orbital bone and injured shoulder ahead of her previous bout with VanZant, describing that training camp almost three years ago as "horrible".

"Training-wise, it's totally different," she told MMA Junkie of her switch to the notoriously brutal form of boxing. "Bare knuckle has no gloves, so there are a lot of adjustments to be made. I feel really good, at peace and ready to go.

"This one was very appealing because they told me it was Paige VanZant. I was like, 'Yes – I would like to run that back.' Running it back in a better environment, I'm not injured – I can't wait.

"It's a different sport, it's not MMA. I get it, but in my mind, I'm fighting Paige VanZant again, only it's stand-up. I can't wait to get that win.

"I'm in such a better place emotionally, physically and spiritually. I just got to focus in on one 'martial art'.

"First of all, I'm a mother. My daughter is eight years old, she's always watching me.

"I want to be that role model and I want her to look at me and say, 'that's my mom.' I want her to be proud of me and I feel like it's so far, so good."