Report – Austin Vanderford, Paige VanZant’s husband books UFC Seattle debut fight on short notice
Former undisputed Bellator MMA title challenger, Austin Vanderford — the husband of Octagon alum, Paige VanZant is set for a surprising debut outing at UFC Seattle this weekend, booking a short-notice catchweight clash against Nikolay Veretennikov on Saturday night.
Vanderford, who married former flyweight and strawweight contender, VanZant back in 2018, competed for the undisputed Bellator MMA middleweight crown during his successful tenure with the former Scott Coker-led promotion.
Entering his title fight with another veteran UFC favorite, Gegard Mousasi boasting an impressive 11-0 professional record back in 2022 in Dublin, Vanderford would suffer a first round knockout loss.
And in his final Bellator MMA outing, Vanderford would suffer another first round knockout defeat this time in a clash against Aaron Jeffrey in August of that same year.
Rebounding to winning-ways under the LFA umbrella back in October, Vanderford — an alum of Dana White’s Contender Series akin to Veretennikov — stopped Victor Romero with a first round knockout win of his own in Niagara Falls.
And as per an initial report for Full Send MMA this evening, Santa Rosa native, Austin Vanderford has finally received his call to the Octagon, taking on the above-mentioned, Nikolay Veretennikov this weekend at a catchweight limit on the UFC Seattle card.
Austin Vanderford — husband of Paige VanZant books UFC Seattle debut fight
“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”
During his impressive run with Bellator MMA, Vanderford would rack up notable wins over fellow ex-title challenger, Fabian Edwards in a unanimous decision effort en route to his clash with Mousasi.
Making an outing on the Contender Series back in 2018, Vanderford prevailed with an eventual second round knockout win over Angelo Trevino, however, did not receive a contract from promotional boss, Dana White.
As for Kazakh prospect, Veretennikov, the 12-5 professional will make his sophomore outing in the Octagon following a prior split decision loss to Danny Barlow back in August, Veretennikov was initially scheduled to take on Billy Ray Goff this weekend in Washington.
UFC Fight Night Seattle takes place this weekend from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington — with a potential bantamweight title eliminator between former two-weight champion, Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong set to take main event honors.
