Aaron Jeffery stepped up 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 back in June, scoring a second-round TKO victory over Fabio Aguiar.
After Anthony Adams was forced to withdraw from his slated bout with Austin Vanderford (11-2 MMA) one week ago, Aaron Jeffery quickly jumped at the opportunity to serve as a short notice replacement.
That move paid dividends, as Jeffery needed just 85 seconds to finish the former Bellator middleweight title challenger.
Jeffery connected with a big right hand and proceeded to finish Vanderford on the ground with punches.
Check out the impressive finish below via Bellator’s official Twitter:
๐คฏ ๐ด๐จ๐ฑ๐ถ๐น ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฌ๐น
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
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) August 13, 2022
โฎ ๐บ๐ณ๐ถ๐พ-๐ด๐ถ ๐ช๐จ๐ด@AaJMMA's knockout of @AustinV170MMA is even ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ in slow motion. #Bellator284 is live on @SHOsports. pic.twitter.com/9t2wMj5dRY
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) August 13, 2022
The loss marked Austin Vanderford’s second in a row, as he was previously stopped by Gegard Mousasi in the same 85-second timeframe at Bellator 275. Prior to his recent skid, ‘Mr. VanZant‘ had strung together eleven straight victories.
As for Aaron Jeffery, the former CFFC champ is now a perfect 2-0 under the Bellator MMA banner. Prior to making his promotional debut, the Canadian suffered two setbacks onย Dana Whiteโs Contender Series, losing to Brendan Allen in 2019 and Caio Borralho in September 2021.