Dana White On Sage Northcutt Leaving UFC And Dropping Flyweights, Paige VanZant Vs. Rachael Ostovich

- Despite legal battles and a broken orbital bone, Rachael Ostovich wants to compete against Paige VanZant in 2019 at the debut UFC on ESPN+ show. And it appears as if the 27-year-old will get her wish.

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VanZant took to Twitter to declare that the fight is still on for January inside the Barclays Center. She also stated that she plans to stand beside Ostovich despite the two having to meet inside the Octagon.

"Yes we are going to war with each other in the cage, but I stand by her side with her ongoing battle at home," VanZant posted. "Let's put on a fight and show these people how strong we are."

Ostovich's husband, Arnold Berdon, pleaded not guilty recently to second-degree assault, as his charge was dropped down from attempted murder.

- The UFC and Sage Northcutt have parted ways for the time being, according to UFC president Dana White. During an appearance on UFC Unfiltered, White said Northcutt's contract expired and the two sides did not come to a new agreement.

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"His contract was up," White said. "We let him go."

The 22-year-old Northcutt signed with the UFC and went 6-2 over eight fights, including a recent knockout of Zak Ottow. He was reported to have a meeting planned with officials with ONE Championship, but nothing has been made official regarding a possible new deal.

"Sage is young and Sage needs some work," White said. "So let him get some work in one of these other organizations and we'll see where this kid ends up in a couple of years and maybe we'll pick him back up again."

- The UFC flyweight division was not killed by TJ Dillashaw, this according to UFC president Dana White. During the same UFC Unfiltered podcast, White stated he "tried to keep" the division alive despite the fact that "people didn't care." The UFC traded former champion Demetrious Johnson to ONE Championship, and reigning 125-pound titleholder Henry Cejudo is set to defend his title against Dillashaw, the bantamweight champion.

"TJ Dillashaw didn't do sā€“t to the flyweight division," White said (thanks to MMA Fighting for transcribing). "The flyweight division just never took off, it never caught on. Even with a dominant champion like Demetrious, it just never caught on. People didn't care. I battled for a long time, I tried to keep it alive and obviously, it's still going on now. We still have fights going on in that division, but we'll see what the future holds for it."

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Cejudo will be making his first ā€“ and likely last ā€“ title defense against Dillashaw in 2019.

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