When fighters are given their release from a major North American MMA promotion like the UFC, Bellator, WSOF or Titan – unless they’re a major star – they often fall into obscurity on the regional/overseas circuit unless they rack up a few wins and end up signing with one of the aforementioned promotions. In this regular feature for MMAOddsBreaker, I take a look at some regional/overseas matchups for the month of November and rather than listing off the top fights outside these major organizations, I highlight some familiar names that you might recognize on upcoming events. Nov 6th – Prize FC 12: Rock N’ Rumble (Denver, Colorado) Joshua Copeland (10-2) vs. DJ Linderman (19-9) Former UFC heavyweight Copeland competes for the second time since his UFC release as he takes on WSOF/Bellator veteran Linderman. After losing two straight in the octagon – to Ruslan Magomedov and Jared Rosholt – Copeland rebounded with a first round TKO victory over Jason Ackerman at Prize FC 10 this past August. Linderman meanwhile has won three straight fights including a victory over former UFC title challenger Jeff Monson. Marcus Edwards (10-4) vs. LT Nelson (7-3) Titan and MFC veteran Edwards returns to action to take on 25-year old Grudge Training Center product Nelson. Edwards last saw action in a short notice fight against Pat Healy, where he lost via second round TKO. The 26-year old Factory X product will be looking for his third win in his last four fights. Nelson meanwhile is 1-3 in his last four fights. Alvin Robinson (14-9) vs. Ryan Axtel (8-7) UFC veteran Robinson looks to get back on the winning track against Axtel who has lost three straight fights. Robinson is coming off a first round TKO loss to Ricky Musgrave at RFA 22 this past January and is 1-3 in his last four fights. Axtel will be looking for his first win since 2012. Nov 7th – EFC Worldwide 45 (Cape Town, South Africa) Ruan Potts (8-5) vs. Tumelo Maphutha (6-7-1) Former UFC heavyweight Potts looks to snap a four fight win streak when he meets fellow South Africa fighter Maphutha. After his UFC release earlier this year, Potts lost by first round submission to French fighter Cyril Asker at EFC 40 this past June. The 37-year old will be looking for his first win since 2013 while his opponent is 3-1 in his last four fights. Nov 13th – Hard Knocks 47 (Calgary, Alberta) Rodney Wallace (23-10-1) vs. Todd Stoute (7-3-0) UFC veteran Wallace looks for his fifth win in his last seven bouts when he meets Canadian Stoute. Wallace is coming off a split decision victory over TUF 3 contestant Kalib Starnes at Hard Knocks 44. Stoute meanwhile has won two straight fights and will be looking for his first three fight win streak since 2011. Nov 13th –Legacy FC 48: Leite vs. Spann (Lake Charles, Louisiana) Sean Soriano (8-3) vs. Josh Quayhagen (8-3) Blackzillians product Soriano moves up to the lightweight division as he battles Quayhagen. Soriano also competes for the first time since his UFC release this year, he was slated to competed at Legacy FC 45 back in July but had to pull out due to injury. Quayhagen meanwhile is 1-3 in his last four bouts but is coming off a split decision victory over UFC veteran Anthony Njokuani at Legacy FC 42 back in June. Nov 14th – Premier FC 18 (Springfield, Massachusetts) Ricardo Funch (8-5) vs. Brett Oteri (12-6) Former UFC welterweight Funch competes for the first time this year as he battles 38-year old opponent Orteri. These two were supposed to fight three times prior between 2013-2014 but the matchup never materialized. Since his UFC release in 2012, Funch has only competed once – a loss to Chuck O’Neil at CES 26 in October 2014 – and he looks for his first win since 2011. Oteri meanwhile is 1-3 in his last three bouts and looks for his first win since 2013. Nov 14th – Sugar Creek Showdown 28: Shockwave (Hinton, Oklahoma) Jeremy Horn (91-21-5) vs. Egidijus Valavicius (27-11) Former UFC title challenger Horn looks to keep his four-fight unbeaten streak alive when he meets Bellator veteran Valavicius. Since his UFC release in 2009 the 40-year old has amassed a 11-2-1 record. Valvicius meanwhile had his three fight win streak snapped after he was defeated by Bellator light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary at Bellator 122 last July. Nov 19th – KOTC: Untamed (Worley, Idaho) Josh Rettinghouse (10-4) vs. Joaquin Calderon (3-1) Former WSOF title challenger Rettinghouse looks to snap his two-fight losing streak when he squares off with hometown favourite Calderon. Since his three fight win streak in 2013, Rettinghouse has dropped bouts to Marlon Moraes and Josh Hill. Calderon competes for the second time this year and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Brendan Raffery this past August. Nov 20th – ICE FC 9: The Rematch (Manchester, England) Phil De Fries (11-5) vs. Rob Broughton (16-7-1) A pair of former UFC heavyweights clash in the main event, as 5-time UFC heavyweight De Fries battles 3-time UFC vet Broughton. This bout is actually a rematch from their clash at UFC 138 in 2011, where De Fries won a unanimous decision. With De Fries only winning twice in his last six fights and Broughton winning just once in his last three fights, both are in need of a victory. Nov 28th – Battle of Botnia 2015 (Umeå, Sweden) Niklas Bäckström (8-2) vs. Georgi Stoyanov (19-8) Backstrom competes for the first time since his UFC release earlier this year as he battles Bulgarian fighter Stoyanov. The Swedish featherweight lost two straight fights in the UFC to Mike Wilkinson and Noad Lahat prior to getting his pink slip from the Las Vegas based promotion. 35-year old Stoyanov is 1-5 in his last six figths and hasn’t won two straight fights since 2013. Nov 28th – KSW 33: Khalidov vs. Materla (Kraków, Poland) Tomasz Drwal (21-5-1) vs. Aziz Karaoglu (8-6) UFC veteran Drwal looks to get back on the winning track when he faces German fighter Karaoglu. After winning four fights in a row, the 33-year old Drwal was knocked out in the third round of his last fight with Michael Materia at KSW 31 this past May. His oppponent, 38-year old Karaoglu looks for the first three fight win streak of his career.
