Austin Vanderford has been pulled from his upcoming fight.
The middleweight was set to take on Daniel Madrid at this Saturday’s Bellator 246 event; however, MMA Junkie confirmed that Vanderford has withdrawn from the bout for undisclosed reasons. His opponent will still remain on the card as his replacement is Pat Casey.
Casey will be making his Bellator MMA return after the middleweight had a brief stint with the company back in 2018. Since exiting the promotion after his loss to Nekruz Mirkhojaev, the 29-year-old bounced back with two consecutive victories during his time in Premier Fighting Championship and AMMO Fight League. However, Casey is coming into the bout following a loss to Yu Ji at Premier FC 30. His professional record currently stands at 6 wins and 2 losses.
Madrid is making his debut on Sept. 12 and the middleweight is coming in hot with a four-fight winning streak. The middleweight has managed to win all four of his last fights via submission, with his most recent being against Chris Harris with a rear-naked choke in 51-seconds of the first round. Madrid has also competed in Ringside Unified Fighting, King of the Cage, and M-1 Global. Madrid’s overall professional record stands at 17 wins and 6 losses.
Bellator 246 takes place Saturday, Sept. 12 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Check out the updated line-up for the upcoming event:
Juan Archuleta vs. Patchy Mix – for the vacant bantamweight title
Jon Fitch vs. Neiman Gracie
DeAnna Bennett vs. Liz Carmouche
Derek Campos vs. Keoni Diggs
Daniel Madrid vs. Pat Casey
Ty Gwerder vs. George Tokkos
Davion Franklin vs. Ras Hylton