At the beginning of every month on MMAOddsBreaker, 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 January. Jan 9th – WFC 46 (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Nolan Norwood def. Kyle Bradley via Submission (Choke) at 4:32, RD. 2 Former UFC lightweight Bradley now drops to 2-2 in his last four fights. With the win Norwood is now 5-1 in his last six fights. Bradley recently retired from MMA. Jan 15th – RFA 34: Velickovic vs. Smith (Broomfield, Colorado) Zac Riley def. Hugo Viana via Unanimous Decision Riley pulled off the second biggest upset in MMA history as he defeated Viana. Riley was a +1000 underdog heading into the fight against -2000 Viana. The biggest upset in MMA history still goes to +1350 Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou defeating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at PRIDE 33. Riley has now won two straight fights while Viana has lost three in a row. Jan 15th – Shamrock FC: Assault (Kansas City, Missouri) Bobby Voelker def. Raymond Gray via Unanimous decision. Voelker has now won four in a row since his UFC release and did so against late replacement Gray. Voelker was originally slated to take on Kyle Kurtz who had to bow out due to injury. Gray has now lost two straight fights. Jan 22nd – Legacy FC 50 (Houston, Texas) Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (19-16) vs. Artenas Young (10-9) PRIDE/Strikeforce veteran Santos gets his first win since 2013, while Young has now lost four straight fights. Jan 23rd – Elite Warrior Challenge 9: Takeover (CARD POSTPONED TO FEB. 6th) Matt Van Buren (6-4) vs. Lewis Rumsey (11-13) Charles Bennett (27-28-2) vs. Terrell Hobbs (9-10) Jan 23rd – Prime Fighting 6 (Ridgefield, Washington) Austin Springer def. Toby Misech via TKO Titan FC/TUF 22 competitor Springer bounced back from the first loss of his career, while with the defeat Misech had his three-fight win streak snapped. Jan 29th – AFC 24 (Coconut Creek, Florida) (CANCELLED) Per Eklund (15-5-1) vs. Marc Stevens (19-9) Bout cancelled per Tapology. Jan 29th – Victory FC 47: Smith vs. Mutapcic (Omaha, Nebraska) Anthony Smith def. Josh Neer via TKO (Strikes) at 3:27, RD. 1 Smith earned his seventh straight win as he handed late replacement Josh Neer his third straight loss. Neer was a late replacement for WSOF/MFC veteran Elvis Mutapcic who was signed to the UFC last month. Jan 30th – NAFC: Super Brawl (Waukesha, Wisconsin) Mike “Biggie” Rhodes def. Mark Stoddard via Unanimous Decision Rhodes earns his third straight win since his UFC release in 2014. Stoddard is now 2-3 in his last five bouts. Jan 31st – Pancrase 275 (Tokyo, Japan) Hatsu Hioki def. Kyosuke Yokoyama via Submission (Choke) at 1:35, RD. 1 Hioki earned his first victory since his UFC release and snapped his two-fight losing streak. With the loss, Yokoyama had his four-fight win streak snapped. Andy Main (11-2-1) vs. Juntaro Ushiku (10-3-1) (CANCELLED) Bout cancelled due to an knee injury suffered by Main. Jan 31st – Road FC 28 (Seoul, South Korea) Jung Hwan Cha def. Riki Fukuda via TKO (Punches) at 2:36, RD.2 Cha has now won back to back fights while Fukuda had his five-fight unbeaten streak snapped.
