Rachael Ostovich's Husband Arnold Berdon Sentenced To Four Years' Probation

Arnold Berdon, husband of UFC flyweight Rachael Ostovich, was sentenced on Thursday to four years of probation after pleading no contest to a charge of assault stemming from an incident last November, according to the Associated Press.

Ostovich was present in a Honolulu court on Thursday and said, “I do have the power to move forward, walking in forgiveness and I have.” The 28-year-old Ostovich did not ask the court for her ex-husband to spend additional time behind bars besides the two days Berdon served on his arrest, according to Berdon’s defense attorney, Myles Breiner.

Prosecuting attorney Robert Rawson had sought a five-year prison sentence for Berdon.

“This wasn’t a single act, it wasn’t a single punch,” Rawson said. “This was a sustained brutal assault. For nearly 10 minutes, the defendant assaulted the victim while she begged for him to stop.” Portions of the alleged incident had been recorded on a cell phone and were later made public by Hawaii News Now.

Breiner stated that both Ostovich and Berdon were both drinking on the night of the assault but acknowledged that it didn’t excuse the actions of his client.

“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. “He thinks about it all the time.”

Ostovich also filed for divorce from Berdon this week and was granted full custody of their six-year-old daughter. Berdon will be allowed supervised visits and will ask for reconsideration of the custody of his daughter after completing anger management and domestic violence intervention courses, according to Breiner.