UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Once Austin Vanderford had Cody Jones on the canvas, he made it relatively easy to stay unbeaten with the biggest win of his career.

Vanderford (7-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) tapped Jones (6-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) with a first-round arm triangle choke for a win in his Bellator debut. Vanderford, husband of UFC women’s flyweight Paige Vanzant, got the finish with 11 seconds left in the opening frame.

The 175-pound catchweight bout opened up the main card of Friday’s Bellator 215 event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Vanderford missed with a big punch early and ducked away from one from Jones, but went right back to firing his left hand. He ate a punch from Jones, but his counter was right on top of it and put Jones on the canvas.

Vanderford went to the mat immediately and went to work trying to pass Jones’ guard. Vanderford stayed on top after a scramble, but another one had him needing to defend a guillotine choke. He slipped it, though, and went back to work on top with three minutes left in the round.

Vanderford kept Jones stifled, then with a minute left scrambled around to take his back and work for a rear-naked choke. That turned into an arm triangle attempt from the side, and with 11 seconds left Jones finally had to tap.

The win kept Vanderford unbeaten at 7-0 to start his pro career, including a win on Dana White’s Contender Series last summer in an attempt to get to the UFC. He has finishes in five of his seven wins. Jones had a four-fight winning streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 215 results include:

• Austin Vanderford def. Cody Jones via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:49
• Billy Goff def. Ryan Hardy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Zarrukh Adashev def. Ron Leon via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Matt Probin def. Ali Zebian via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Pete Rogers def. Jason Rine via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:50
• Steve Mowry def. Darion Abbey via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 1:27
• Amanda Bell def. Amber Leibrock via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:52
• Lindsey VanZandt def. Tabatha Ann Watkins via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:25
• Pat McCrohan def. Jason Markland via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:11

For complete coverage of Bellator 215, check out the MMA Events section of the site.