It would seem that Nikolay Veretennikov isn’t getting the kind of heat from the promotion that he is from the fanbase after his actions at UFC Seattle on Saturday night.
This weekend, the Kazakh-born fighter fell to a second straight loss since joining the UFC. That was courtesy of former Bellator title challenger Austin Vanderford, who made a successful debut on just days’ notice.
“The Gentlemen” was on the ascendancy from the start, and his grappling superiority ultimately paved the way for a TKO with ground strikes in the second round at UFC Seattle.
Veretennikov was less than pleased with the stoppage and immediately disputed it. But rather than the official, the 35-year-old took his frustration out on Vanderford by shoving his victorious opponent.
Many were quick to slate Veretennikov, with some even suggesting he was likely to be cut from his contract as a result of his UFC Seattle actions. That, however, doesn’t appear to be a sentiment shared by the higher-ups.
“Listen, yeah, it’s never good when you go over (and push an opponent),” Dana White said during his post-fight press conference. “I don’t know why he went after him. I understand he was upset with the referee. And when you watch that fight, if you look, I get why he was upset. He was blocking a lot of the shots. He was blocking; he was still trying to get out of there.
“If a guy is taking a number of just unanswered shots, and he’s laying there on the ground — he was defending and moving around, and so I understand why he’s upset,” White continued. “But yeah, you know how we are here. He went over and pushed the guy. What should we do?”
In addition to his actions in the aftermath of Saturday’s UFC Seattle result, Veretennikov’s 0-2 Octagon record likely leaves him on thin ice in the UFC.
Should he be granted another opportunity to have his hand raised on MMA’s biggest stage, it would no doubt be a must-win scenario for the 35-year-old.