Canada’s Aaron Jeffery is going to get a big step up in competition at Bellator 284 next week.
Jeffery (12-3) will face recent middleweight title challenger Austin Vanderford (11-1) at the event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He replaces Anthony Adams, who has withdrawn from the fight.
News of the match-up was first reported by ESPN. Jeffery subsequently confirmed the booking on social media.
Jeffery, who trains out of Niagara Top Team in St. Catharines, Ontario, is a two-time veteran of Dana White’s Contender Series. Long considered one of the best prospects out of Canada, he finally got a shot at the big leagues after signing with Bellator MMA earlier this year.
A former Cage Fury FC middleweight champ, Jeffery’s only losses have come to current UFC fighters Sean Brady, Brendan Allen, and Caio Borralho. He holds wins over current UFC fighter Andre Petroski, and Collin Huckbody, who infamously won on the Contender Series but later declined a UFC deal.
Vanderford will be fighting for the first time since his loss to Gegard Mousasi in a failed middleweight title bid earlier this year. The loss, a first-round TKO, was the first of Vanderford’s career.
Bellator 284 takes place on August 12, 2022 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The card currently features the following match-ups:
- Neiman Gracie vs. Goiti Yamauchi
- Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Bruna Ellen
- Said Sowma vs. Gokhan Saricam
- Austin Vanderford vs. Aaron Jeffery
- Josh Hill vs. Marcos Breno
- DeAnna Bennett vs. Justine Kish
- Jordan Newman vs. Lance Wright
- Sullivan Cauley vs. Tyson Jeffries
- Pat Downey vs. Jeff Souder
- Isaiah Hokit vs. Nick Perez
- Bailey Schoenfelder vs. Mark Currier
- Mitchell McKee vs. Tony Ortega
- Brett Bye vs. Chris Bonnette
