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.