At the beginning of every month, I feature my recurring “Veteran Watch” article, which takes a look at some notable veterans competing on the regional/overseas circuit. In this article, I recap how these veteran fighters fared in their respective bouts for the month of July
PFL 2018 #3: Regular Season – July 5 (Washington, D.C)
Ray Cooper III def. Jake Shields via TKO (Punches) at 2:09, RD. 2
Cooper has now won two of his last three fights while Shields has now lost three of his last four fights.
Rick Story def. Yuri Villefort via unanimous decision
Former UFC welterweight Story earns his first win since May 2015 while Villefort has his five fight win streak snapped.
Shamil Garnzatov def. Eddie Gordon via Unanimous Decision
TUF 19 Winner Gordon looks for his first two-fight win streak since July 2014 when he faces undefeated Russian Garnzatov. Gordon was ousted from TUF 25 after losing to Tom Gallicchio via submission. Garnzatov earns his 12th win in a row while Gordon has now lost four of his last five fights.
John Howard def. Gasan Umalatov via submission (choke) at 2:59, RD. 2
A pair of UFC veterans face off in a middleweight bout as “Doomsday” battles Umalatov. Howard has now won three of his last four fights while Umalatov suffers his first loss in his last three fights.
Joao Zeferino def Paul Bradley via TKO (Punches) at 1:58, RD. 1
Zeferino earns his first win since Oct. 2016 while former UFC/Bellator fighter Bradly suffers three-straight losses for the first time in his career
Bojan Velickovic def. Jonatan Westin via TKO (punches) at 2:50, RD. 2
Former UFC welterweight Velickovic snaps a two-fight skid while Westin has his six-fight win streak snapped.
RFC Way of the Dragon 2: Taiwan Pro Combat Championship – July 7 (Taipei City, Taiwan)
Will Chope def. Bilal Williams via Majority Decision
UFC veteran Chope snaps his three-fight skid while Williams has now lost four-straight fights.
RCC 3: Russian Cagefighting Championship 3 – July 9 (Yekaterinburg, Russia)
Aleksander Emelianenko def. Viktor Pesta via TKO (punches) at 3:52, RD. 2
Former PRIDE star Emelianenko earns his fitfth win in a row while Pesta’s three-fight unbeaten streak is snapped.
Nikolay Aleksakhin def. Elias Silverio via unanimous decision
Aleksakhin pushes his winning streak to four-straight while Silverio has his three-fight unbetean streak snapped.
LFA 45 – July 20 (Cabazon, California)
Erick Silva def. Nick Barnes via submission (armbar) at 4:43, RD. 1
Former UFC welterweight Silva snaps a two-fight losing streak. Barnes meanwhile has been finshed in three of his last four fights.
XFFC 18 – July 21 (Penticton, B.C)
Matt Dwyer def. Dominique Steele via knockout (punch) at 4:59, RD. 1
UFC veteran Dwyer earns his third straight win since his UFC release while Steele has now lost two of his last three fights.
ACB 89 – July 21 (Limassol, Cyprus)
Mac Danzig (22-12-1) vs. Viskhan Magomadov (7-3)
Card Cancelled
Invicta FC 30 – July 21 (Kansas City, MI)
Heather Jo Clark def. Kinberly Novaes via unanimous decision
Clark earns her first win since Dec. 2104 while Novaes has lost four straight fights.
Cagesport 52 – July 21 (Tacoma, Washington)
Anthony Hamilton (16-9) vs. Matt Kovacs (14-17)
Bout cancelled per Tapology
LFA 46 – July 27 (Newport News Virginia)
Alexandre Bezerra def. Sam Toomer via TKO (ground and pound) at 3:00, RD. 2
Bellator veteran Bezerra has now won four of his last five fights. Toomer meanwhile drops to 2-2 in his last four fights.
Iron Boy MMA 12 – July 28 (Phoenix, Arizona)
Former UFC lightweight Case earns back-to-back wins for the first time since Nov. 2015. Meanwhile Verdugo suffers his second-straight loss after winning three-straight.
RIZIN 11 – July 29th (Saitama. Japan)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Hiromasa Ogikubo via Unanimous Decision
Top flyweight Horiguchi earns his10th win in a row. Ogikubo has his seven-fight win streak snapped.
Takanori Gomi def. Melvin Guillard via TKO, RD. 1
UFC/PRIDE veteran Gomi snaps his six-fight losing streak while Guillard has now lost eight fights ina row.
Diego Brandao def. Satoru Kitaoka via TKO, RD .1
Former UFC featherweight Brandao has now won three of his last four fights while Kitaoka has lost three of his last four fights.
Daron Cruickshank def. Tom Santos via submission (elbows) RD. 3
UFC veteran Cruickshank earns three-straight wins for the first time since Dec. 2011. Santos comes up short in his RIZIN debut and drops to 9-6 overall.
Is there a notable MMA veteran competing this month that I missed? Or is there a matchup that has been changed? Hit me up on Twitter @LynchOnSports, and I’ll add it in or fix it up. Thanks.
