Ninilchik High School graduate and former Alaska state champion wrestler Austin Vanderford debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Seattle on Saturday night, defeating Kazakhstan fighter Nikolay Veretennikov by Technical Knockout (TKO) in the second round.
“I took this fight on four days’ notice; just stayed ready,” said Vanderford after his debut performance and victory.
Vanderford was a two-time Alaska wrestling champion in 2006 (160 lbs) and 2007 (152 lbs). After graduating from Ninilchik High School in 2008, Vanderford attended Southern Oregon University. At SOU, he won an NAIA National Wrestling Champion in 2012 (184 lbs.) and was a two-time NAIA All-American wrestler. Vanderford’s professional record is at 13 and 2, with one World Championship match at 185.
After college, he briefly worked as a wrestling coach at SOU before deciding to fight competitively. Austin began his professional fighting career and went on to win his first professional fight in 2017.
On Saturday, Vanderford took control of the fight against Veretennikov early, executing multiple takedowns and inflicting significant damage. By round two, he began to gain steam, landing heavy strikes until the referee intervened at 4:13, marking the official result as Vanderford winning by TKO.
“You know, I just want to continue to evolve, get better, and work my way up the rankings,” the Ninilchik native said to raucous applause in front of the Seattle crowd. “I got into this sport [to] try to be the best in the world. Test myself against the best, and that’s what I plan on doing here in the UFC on 170 [lbs].”
After the fight had concluded, Veretennikov, seemingly upset with the referee’s decision, pushed Vanderford from behind as he celebrated with his team. Security quickly moved to separate the two fighters as tensions ran high.
Vanderford is anticipated to face more UFC opponents in the future.
