Aaron Jeffery stepped in on short notice to fight former title challenger Austin Vanderford on the main card of tonight’s Bellator 284 event.
Jeffery (13-3 MMA), a former CFFC middleweight champion, had made his Bellator debut in June, earning a second-round TKO victory over Fabio Aguiar.
After Anthony Adams was forced to pull out of his scheduled bout with Austin Vanderford (11-2 MMA) a week ago, Aaron Jeffery quickly jumped at the opportunity to serve as a replacement on short notice.
That move paid dividends, as Jeffery needed just 85 seconds to finish off the former Bellator middleweight title challenger.
Advertisement: Continue reading below
Advertisement: Continue reading below
Jeffery connected with a big right hand and proceeded to finish Vanderford on the ground with punches.
Check out the stunning finish below via Bellator’s official Twitter:
🤯 𝑴𝑨𝑱𝑶𝑹 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑪𝑲𝑬𝑹
It’s the night of the mullets as @AaJMMA KOs @AustinV170MMMA in the opening fight of the #Bellator284 main card.
Watch live NOW on @SHOsports. pic.twitter.com/xwfqBSU2dt
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) August 13, 2022
⏮ 𝑺𝑳𝑶𝑾-𝑶 𝑪𝑨𝑴@AaJMMA @AustinV170MMA’s knockout is even 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒊𝒆𝒓 in slow motion. #Bellator284 is live on @SHOsports. pic.twitter.com/9t2wMj5dRY
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) August 13, 2022
Advertisement: Continue reading below
Advertisement: Continue reading below
The loss marked Austin Vanderford’s second in a row, as Gegard Mousasi had previously stopped him in the same 85-second span at Bellator 275. Prior to his recent skid, ‘Mr. VanZant’ had achieved eleven consecutive victories.
As for Aaron Jeffery, the former CFFC champion is now a perfect 2-0 under the Bellator MMA banner. Before making his promotional debut, the Canadian suffered two setbacks on Dana White’s Contender Series, losing to Brendan Allen in 2019 and Caio Borralho in September 2021.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM