HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu police arrested mixed martial arts fighter Arnold Berdon on charges of attempted murder after he allegedly punched his wife and fellow fighter in the head, face and ribs, fracturing her eye socket.
His wife, Rachael Ostovich Berdon, filed a request for a temporary restraining order alleging he punched her on Sunday after a night out with family. She said she fell to the ground, gasped for air and escaped through a balcony. The 27-year-old said she coughed up blood and threw up several times.
Her representative, Brian Butler-Au, posted on social media that Ostovich Berdon won’t compete in a UFC bout against Paige VanZant scheduled for Jan. 19 because of her injuries.
Berdon, 27, was in custody Wednesday after turning himself in the day before. Police declined to make him available for comment. His attorney’s name was not immediately available.
Ostovich Berdon’s petition said he also hit her in May, when he repeatedly punched her thighs and left her with bruises.
A judge granted the restraining order that prohibits Berdon from approaching both Ostovich Berdon and the couple’s daughter, who is about 5 years old.
Butler-Au said Ostovich Berdon was home from the hospital and will be returning for checkups on the fracture to her orbital bone. He said the family is asking for privacy while they “sort through” what’s happened.
Butler-Au said some people have accused Ostovich Berdon’s team of downplaying the incident, but he said that’s not the case. He said they’re trying to be sensitive to the daughter’s situation.
“The daughter wasn’t there, but obviously the daughter has a father. And that’s Arnold. And now Arnold has got to own up to, pay the consequences for, what he did,” he said by telephone from China, where he’s visiting for a UFC event.
