UFC 320 is off to an interesting start. Austin Vanderford, husband of former UFC star Paige VanZant, squared off against Ramiz Brahimaj in the early prelims in a thrilling clash that ended violently in the second round. Vanderford started strong, controlling the first frame with sharp jabs, a slick head kick, and dominant groundwork after securing a takedown. However, Brahimaj adjusted quickly in round two.

He landed a powerful head kick that rocked Vanderford and forced a desperate takedown attempt from the latter. Seizing the moment, Brahimaj locked in a tight guillotine choke, forcing Vanderford to tap. With the win, Brahimaj earned his thirteenth career victory and extended his submission streak to two, halting Vanderford’s promising UFC momentum. The win reminded former UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, of his challenging training with Brahimaj.

Belal Muhammad recalls tough Ramiz Brahimaj spar, Henry Cejudo spots the spouses at UFC 320

After the 32-year-old secured the win, a fan on X pressed Muhammad about what he has been teaching Brahimaj. “Damn @bullyb170 what did you teach Brahimaj??? He’s an animal,” the user wrote on X. This quickly caught Muhammad’s attention, as he responded by revealing he remembered being “killed” by Ramiz Brahimaj. “He killed me with that choke all camp,” he responded. The pair, of course, has been training at the Valle Flow Striking in Chicago before UFC 320.

Austin Vanderford was joined by his wife, Paige VanZant, in his corner during the fight. However, he wasn’t the only fighter tonight with their spouse present in their corner. And former UFC champion Henry Cejudo didn’t fail to notice it while watching the event unfold live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “How many damn spouses are we going to see in these corners tonight?” he asked sarcastically. 

“Dan Hardy in Veronica’s corner, Paige VanZant in Vanderford’s corner, Thiago Santos in Yana’s corner, we’ll see Tatiana Suarez in Patchy’s corner. Crazy,” he added. The fighters with their spouses in their corner are 2-2 tonight, after Patchy Mix just lost a decision to Jakub Wiklacz.

Coming back to Ramiz Brahimaj, he took the mic and had an interesting exchange with Joe Rogan. 

Ramiz Brahimaj shouts out to Joe Rogan’s podcast

Joe Rogan, like many times before, got an interesting Octagon interview at UFC 320, and that’s just before the prelims had even started. Brahimaj put a long, white hat on Rogan’s bald head. He proceeded to shout out to Rogan’s popular podcast, even though he never appeared in one of the episodes.

“Joe Rogan podcast by night, training by day,” Brahimaj declared in the post-fight interview with Rogan. He then revealed that he was busy listening to Rogan’s podcast throughout his training camp for the fight. But Rogan disagreed – “You obviously did a lot more training and a lot less listening.”

This is just the latest in a long line of props that Rogan has worn in post-fight interviews. From Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Papakha to the Fighting Nerds’ glasses, Rogan’s Octagon interviews have seen him sport several iconic fighter props.

And speaking of the fighters, it appears that even though Austin Vanderford’s wife came to support him, it didn’t stop Ramiz Brahimaj from creating an upset. What do you want to see next for the welterweight?