Austin
Vanderford, who is perhaps best known for being the husband of
Paige
VanZant, will get his chance in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship this weekend.
The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Tuesday that Vanderford
will face Nikolay
Veretennikov in a short-notice, 175-pound catchweight affair at
UFC
Seattle on Saturday. UFC Seattle — also known as UFC Fight
Night 252 — takes place at Climate Pledge Arena and is headlined by
a bantamweight showdown between Henry
Cejudo and Yadong
Song.
Vanderford began his professional tenure with 11 consecutive
triumphs — including five wins under the Bellator
MMA banner. During that stretch, he attempted to earn a UFC
deal on
Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018 but didn’t receive a
contract following a second-round submission of Angelo
Trevino. He challenged for middleweight gold at Bellator 275,
where he suffered a first-round TKO defeat to then champ Gegard
Mousasi. “The Gentleman” parted ways with Bellator following a
stoppage loss to Aaron Jeffrey in August 2022 before returning to
the win column in his most recent outing with a 65-second finish of
Luiz Victor
Romero at LFA 194.
Veretennikov made his Octagon debut in August, when he suffered a
split-decision loss to Danny
Barlow at UFC on ESPN 61. That snapped a three-bout finishing
streak for the Kazakhstan native, who also came up short in his bid
to earn a UFC contract on the Contender Series.