Former undisputed Bellator MMA title challenger, Austin Vanderford — the husband of Octagon alum, Paige VanZant is ready for a shocking debut outing at UFC Seattle this weekend, reserving a short-notice catchweight conflict in opposition to Nikolay Veretennikov on Saturday night time.
Vanderford, who married former flyweight and strawweight contender, VanZant again in 2018, competed for the undisputed Bellator MMA middleweight crown throughout his profitable tenure with the previous Scott Coker-led promotion.
Coming into his title battle with one other veteran UFC favourite, Gegard Mousasi boasting a formidable 11-0 skilled report again in 2022 in Dublin, Vanderford would endure a primary spherical knockout loss.
And in his last Bellator MMA outing, Vanderford would endure one other first spherical knockout defeat this time in a conflict in opposition to Aaron Jeffrey in August of that very same yr.
Rebounding to winning-ways underneath the LFA umbrella again in October, Vanderford — an alum of Dana White’s Contender Sequence akin to Veretennikov — stopped Victor Romero with a primary spherical knockout win of his personal in Niagara Falls.
And as per an preliminary report for Full Ship MMA this night, Santa Rosa native, Austin Vanderford has lastly acquired his name to the Octagon, taking over the above-mentioned, Nikolay Veretennikov this weekend at a catchweight restrict on the UFC Seattle card.
Austin Vanderford — husband of Paige VanZant books UFC Seattle debut battle
“Austin Vanderford signs with the UFC and will debut this Saturday in Seattle against Nikolay Veretennikov,” The outlet posted on X. “The bout will be at a catchweight. #UFCSeattle”
Throughout his spectacular run with Bellator MMA, Vanderford would rack up notable wins over fellow ex-title challenger, Fabian Edwards in a unanimous choice effort en path to his conflict with Mousasi.
Making an outing on the Contender Sequence again in 2018, Vanderford prevailed with an eventual second spherical knockout win over Angelo Trevino, nonetheless, didn’t obtain a contract from promotional boss, Dana White.
As for Kazakh prospect, Veretennikov, the 12-5 skilled will make his sophomore outing within the Octagon following a previous cut up choice loss to Danny Barlow again in August, Veretennikov was initially scheduled to tackle Billy Ray Goff this weekend in Washington.
UFC Combat Evening Seattle takes place this weekend from the Local weather Pledge Area in Seattle, Washington — with a possible bantamweight title eliminator between former two-weight champion, Henry Cejudo and Music Yadong set to take principal occasion honors.
