VAN'S MAN
Who is Paige VanZant’s husband Austin Vanderford?
PAIGE VanZant has been married to her husband, Austin Vanderford, since 2018 and they have received lots of coverage due to the nature of their careers.
Vanderford has forged a career in mixed martial arts, much like his wife, and the couple have a large following on social media. Here's what we know.
1
Who is Paige VanZant's husband Austin Vanderford?
Vanderford was born on March 21, 1990, in Santa Rosa, California.
He began wrestling at age five and is a two-time NAIA All-American and national champion wrestler.
The Bellator fighter stands at 5-feet-11 inches and weighs 185 pounds. He was brought up in Portland, Oregon, and is associated with Gracie Barra Portland, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team.
At Gracie Barra Portland he trained under legendary fighter Fabiano Scherner, earning a purple belt.
Vanderford, nicknamed The Gentleman, won his first amateur fight against Eric McConico in 2015.
He fights in the middleweight class and over the course of his career has fought in various promotions including: Rogue Promotions, Victory Fighting Championship (VFC), and Final Fight Championship (FFC).
Vanderford signed for Bellator in 2019, and currently holds a record of 11 wins and two losses.
How long have Austin Vanderford and Paige VanZant been together?
VanZant and Vanderford met and found love inside of their beloved sport of MMA.
Most read in MMA
According to , the two started dating in the summer of 2017.
In January 2018 he proposed to VanZant and the two were married later that year.
He often gets "Mr VanZant!" taunts at his fights which he laughs off, telling : "I married her for the person she is and I’m proud if they want to talk to me about her and call me, ‘Mr. VanZant.'
“It’s a compliment, if you ask me.”
He proves to be the ever supporting husband, comforting his wife after she lost her debut Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship bout.
He posted on Instagram: "Where to start….. Going to cherish these photos when we can look back at all the amazing things we did my love.
"So proud of my beautiful wife!!!
"The end result wasn’t ultimately what we wanted, but we gained so much experience and showed a ton of growth between the 1st and 5th round!
"We have a better understanding of a game plan for the next one!
"Respect to our opponent, because this sport truly takes so much intestinal fortitude to get in and do what you do!!!
Humble in victory and defeat."
What has Austin Vanderford said about starting a family with Paige VanZant?
The two MMA stars have been married since 2018 and Vanderford hopes to start a family sooner rather than later.
On February 7, 2021 he shared a photo of his wife showing off her bruises from fight against Britain Hart on Instagram with the caption: ";Seriously, even more cute than before AND 10x SEXIER, f*****s
"If it wasn’t for your desire to wanna fight more, we’d be talking about some babies right now.
So let’s go have some more fights my sexy queen."
What has Austin Vanderford said about his and Paige VanZant's naked Instagram pictures?
Vanderford and VanZant enjoy posting naked photos together on Instagram.
While his superstar wife has over two million followers, Vanderford has 153,000 and calls himself Mr Vanzant in his bio.
In an interview with MMA Fighting he said with a laugh: "For one, I started wrestling since I was five, so I’ve been wearing one of those singlets my entire life so there isn’t a whole lot that it doesn’t show.
“I’ve just never been shy about that. I have fun. My wife sees me naked all day everyday anyway, so I thought the rest of the world deserves it, too.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Topics