February 22, 2025 7:25 pm ET
Austin Vanderford’s lengthy wait to debut within the octagon paid off at UFC Battle Night time 252 within the type of a second-round TKO of Nikolay Veretennikov.
It was a dominant efficiency by former Bellator fighter Vanderford (13-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who’s also referred to as the husband of Paige VanZant. He grappled Veretennikov (12-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC) to the mat within the first and threatened with submissions, then picked up the place he left off to ground-and-pound his approach to a TKO on the 4:13 mark of Spherical 2.
Veretennikov wasn’t proud of the stoppage, and he made that a lot clear by charging throughout the octagon and pushed Vanderford from behind whereas he was speaking to his workforce. Safety rapidly broke it up, and Vanderford celebrated the consequence.
Take a look at the replay of the scenes beneath (by way of X):
AUSTIN VANDERFORD GETS THE FINISH IN HIS UFC DEBUT
#UFCSEATTLE pic.twitter.com/KQUdmLqcKk
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 23, 2025
Nikolay Veretennikov is just not proud of Vanderford after his loss at #UFCSeattle.#UFCSeattle pic.twitter.com/t5Wx4ATpML
— Eddie (@Leonidasfitai) February 23, 2025
After the victory, Vanderford, who will get a late begin to his UFC profession at 34, mentioned he’ll be trying to make an impression within the welterweight division going ahead.
“I took this struggle on 4 days’ discover, simply stayed prepared,” Vanderford mentioned in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I might’ve wish to make the struggle a bit extra thrilling, I landed some good pictures. … I simply wish to proceed to maintain evolve and shifting up the rankings.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC Battle Night time 252 outcomes embrace:
- Austin Vanderford def. Nikolay Veretennikov by way of TKO (punches) – Spherical 2, 4:13
- Nursulton Ruziboev def. Eric McConico via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:33
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Rafael Cerqueira via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:12
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Fight Night 252.
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