Austin Vanderford targets Bellator belt and is already prepared to fight Douglas Lima, Gegard Mousasi
- Vanderford says he’s ready to test himself against the best in Bellator’s middleweight division
- ‘The Gentleman’ keeping himself sharp at home gym alongside wife and UFC star Paige VanZant during coronavirus pandemic
Austin Vanderford is now 3-0 under the Bellator banner, and widely regarded as one of the brightest young stars on the promotion’s roster.
The American middleweight, who is married to UFC star Paige VanZant, expected to have the opportunity to take another step up the ladder this May, but the plan was unfortunately nixed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was never announced, but I was supposed to be fighting at Bellator London on May 16,” Vanderford told the Post, adding that he can’t divulge who he was set to fight. “It was going to be a good fight and hopefully I can keep the same opponent and we can move it to later.”
With the sports industry on pause, Vanderford is keeping his weapons sharp in his home gym alongside VanZant. While he’s making the best of the circumstances, he’s excited to cement his position among Bellator’s best middleweights when this crisis subsides.
The Bellator middleweight division doesn’t currently have a champion, as former belt-holder Rafael Lovato Jnr was forced out of the fold with a health issue, but the promotion plans to coronate a new middleweight king by pitting Gegard Mousasi against Douglas Lima in the coming months. Outside Lima and Mousasi, the biggest names in the division include Brazil’s Lyoto Machida, England’s Fabian Edwards, and of course Vanderford himself.
He’s thrilled to be positioned among so many big names.
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“It makes for a lot of exciting fights,” he said. “I’m going to get the opportunity to fight some of these guys I’ve grown up watching. For me to go out and beat someone like Machida or Fabian Edwards – I think there’s a lot of really fun fights to be had.”
At 9-0, Vanderford will be at a definite experiential deficit against bona fide veterans like Machida (26-9), Lima (32-7), and particularly Mousasi (46-7-2). Nonetheless, he feels prepared to start mixing it up with rivals of this calibre.
“I feel ready,” he said. “Even before my last fight, I feel like I’m ready to test myself and fight those guys. I rise to my competition, so fighting a guy like Lima or Mousasi is only going to make me perform better.”
Vanderford will need to topple foes of this level if he intends to accomplish his ultimate goal: becoming the Bellator middleweight champ.
“That’s the No 1 goal I have right now: to be the middleweight champion” he said. “It means everything to me and that’s what drives me – even during times like this – to still be training two times a day and put in the work.”
Suffice is it to say, Vanderford has a very bright future as a member of the Bellator roster.
But if he accomplishes all of his current goals in the promotion, don’t expect him to go running off in search of potentially greener pastures. He’s very happy where he’s at.
“I see myself sticking with Bellator,” he said.
“My biggest goal right now is to be the middleweight champion. I don’t really look past that – other than looking at the little goals to get to that point. So you know, it’s all Bellator right now. It’s all about being the middleweight champion.”
