An Alaska High School Hall of Fame wrestler and Ninilchik School graduate is fighting for the Bellator middleweight world mixed martial arts championship in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday.
Austin Vanderford grew up on the south peninsula, wrestling and playing basketball in high school. He placed twice at the state wrestling championship before winning two titles in 2006 and 2007, according to his Hall of Fame profile.
He went on to wrestle at the collegiate level for Southern Oregon University in Ashland and won an NAIA title in 2012 before becoming a professional MMA fighter.
Vanderford said in an interview with the Clarion that his upbringing in Alaska propelled him in his athletic career.
“I grew up commercial fishing with my family and friends and just doing a lot of stuff that maybe kids in the Lower 48 or across the U.S. didn’t necessarily do,” he said. “I like to think that Alaska grit is just a little different than everywhere else.”
John Lindeman, Vanderford’s former wrestling coach at Ninilchik High, said athletes like Vanderford didn’t come through the program every year.
“I took a lot of time with him because I could see that he was a kid that wanted to learn and do his best,” he said. “And you don’t always get that kind of young man on your team.”
Lindeman said Vanderford rose above his teammates in high school because of his talent and dedication.
“There was nobody else that I had really that could compete with him, because of his dynamics,” his coach said.
Lindeman said he hasn’t seen his former wrestler in a long time, but that he still thinks “the world of him.”
Vanderford said a lot of his family is still based in Ninilchik and Southcentral Alaska, and that many of them are flying to Dublin to watch his championship fight.
“I think we have like 25 people coming to the fight. … I’ll be well represented in Ireland,” he said. “We’re excited, we’re happy our family gets to come and our friends, and just kind of create these memories and God willing, (if) everything goes well, I’ll have a belt afterwards and have our whole family there to celebrate with us.”
Fighting against Vanderford for the middleweight title is Gegard Mousasi — a Dutch MMA champion who has only lost one fight since September 2015, according to ESPN.
Vanderford said he’s going to use his wrestling ground-and-pound skills to his advantage Friday.
“I feel like my strength is taking people down,” he said. “So I try to utilize that, I try to utilize my elbows. … I like to make my fights exciting by causing a lot of blood.”
He said he’s not an aggressive person outside of the cage, but when it comes time to compete he lets a different side take over.
“It’s just kind of a different animal once I get in there and once I’m in a competition setting,” Vanderford said.
The former wrestler turned fighter became even more well known in the MMA community when he started dating his now wife, Paige VanZant — one of the most famous female Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes who has since modeled and appeared on television shows including “Dancing With the Stars” and “Chopped.”
Vanderford said the duo works as a team both on and off the mat.
“It’s definitely a special bond that we share with each other, and we’re both in each other’s corners for the fights,” he said. “We will coach each other for the fights.”
VanZant has helped propel his career, Vanderford said, because of all of the work she’s done in UFC and now as a bare-knuckle boxer.
“She definitely has helped kick-start my career and, you know, get people to notice me,” he said. “At first you notice me as Paige VanZant’s husband, but then I’m able to kind of go out and wow them in a different way with my skill set.”
According to the Bellator website, Friday’s fight can be streamed on the Bellator MMA YouTube channel, SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel and Pluto TV. It begins at 11 a.m. Alaska time.
Vanderford said he would be taking his Last Frontier roots all the way to Ireland this week.
“I always make sure that whenever they announce me (that) I’m fighting out of Coconut Creek, Florida, but by way of Ninilchik, Alaska,” Vanderford said. “I take a lot of pride in representing the state, for sure.”
Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.
