Vanhouter Stops Akpejiori After Injury Scare

Heavyweight prospect Da'Mazion Vanhouter stopped Raphael Akpejiori in the first round Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, improving to 13-0 with his tenth knockout on the Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn undercard.

Vanhouter, 21, hurt the former Miami Hurricanes basketball player early and appeared headed for a routine finish until Akpejiori locked up his left arm during a clinch. The Detroit native went to the canvas and the referee paused the action for an injury check, per MMA Fighting. Vanhouter waved off the concern and seconds later dropped Akpejiori with a right hand for the stoppage at 1:58 of Round 1.

Vanhouter Downplays Shoulder Scare

After the fight, Vanhouter told the broadcast that the injury was minor. "No, it was up, and he was pushing down on my shoulder, so it just felt a little weird, a little tight, but other than that it was fine," he said. "I got back to normal."

Akpejiori dropped to 19-4 but the record requires context, as Bad Left Hook noted. The towering heavyweight has no quality wins and was previously stopped early by both Arslanbek Makhmudov and Stephan Shaw. Vanhouter controlled the brief fight from the opening bell, walking down his taller opponent and landing power shots consistently before the clinch sequence.

The performance gave Vanhouter exposure on a major Zuffa Boxing card, though his next opponent and fight date have not been announced.

Original reporting:

• badlefthook.com — Da’Mazion Vanhouter KO’s Akpejiori in first round on Garcia-Benn card | Bad Left Hook
• mmafighting.com — Garcia vs. Benn video: Da’Mazion Vanhouter shakes off injury scare to flatten Raphael Akpejiori with 1st-round knockout | MMA Fighting