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 October.
PFL 2018 #8: Playoffs – Oct 5 (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Josh Copeland vs. Francimar Barroso DRAW
Josh Copeland def. Alex Nicholson via TKO at 1:21, RD. 1
Copeland advances to the PFL heavyweight tournament final against Bellator veteran Phillipe Lins.
Alex Nicholson def. Jack May via TKO at 2:03, RD.1
Josh Copeland def. Alex Nicholson via TKO at 1:21, RD. 1
Former UFC light heavyweight Nicholson earns a win over May but is stopped by Copeland in the semi-finals.
Jared Rosholt def. Kevin Tiller via Unanimous Decision
Philipe Lins def. Jared Rosholt via TKO at 0:45, RD. 2
UFC veteran Rosholt earns revenge against Tiller but loses to Lins in the semi-finals.
Steven Siler vs. Nazareno Malegarie DRAW
Steven Siler def. Alexandre de Almeida via Illegal Upkick at 0:52, RD. 2
UFC veteran Siler makes it to the featherweight finals against Lance Palmer
Mo De’Reese def. Mike Kyle via TKO at 2:38, RD. 1
Kyle dropped to 2-3 in his last five fights while De’Reese remains undefeaeted.
KSW 45: The Return to Wembley – Oct. 6 (London, England)
Phil De Fries def. Karol Bedorf via submission (keylock) at 4:26, RD. 2
UFC veteran De Fries sucessfully defends his KSW heavyweight title and pushed his win streak to four straight. Bedorf meanwhile has now lost two of his last three fights.
Wagner Prado def. Łukasz Parobiec via TKO (punch) at 0:41, RD. 1
Former UFC light heavyweight Prado earns his third win in a row while late replacement Parobiec suffers his third straight loss.
Thiago Silva def. James McSweeney via unanimous decision
UFC veteran Silva has now won two of his last three fights while McSweeney endured his fourth straight loss.
ONE Championship: Kingdom of Heros – Oct 6 (Bangkok, Thailand)
Shinya Aoki def. Ev Ting via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 0:57. RD. 1
Strikeforce/Bellator veteran Aoki looks captures his third straight win while Ting has his three-fight win streak snapped.
Leandro Issa (16-6) vs. Mulin Gafurov (15-2)
UFC veteran Issa plans to make it four-straight wins when he faces 23-year-old Gafurov. Issa has gone 3-0 since leaving the UFC in 2016, with two of those wins coming by stoppage. Gafurov meanwhile is currently riding a four-fight win streak.
PFL 2018 #9: Playoffs – Oct 13 (Long Beach, California)
Vinny Magalhaes def. Rakim Cleveland via submission (kimura) at 1:20, RD. 1
Vinny Magalhaes def. Bozigit Ataev via submission (kimura) at 1:58, RD. 1
Former UFC light heavyweight Magalhaes earns his fourth straight win and a ticket to the PFL finals where he’ll face Sean O’Connell at PFL #11 on New Years Eve.
Sean O’Connell def. Dan Spohn via majority decision
Sean O’Connell def. Smealinho Rama via TKO at 1:45, RD. 1
UFC veteran O’Connell earns back-to-back wins and a spot in the finals against Magalhaes for the 1 million dollar prize.
Johnny Case vs. Natan Schulte (DRAW
Former UFC lightweight Case ends up out of the tournament due to a draw and Shulte went on to defeat Chris Wade by split decision. The 26-year-old faces Rashid Magomedov at PFL #11 for the 1 million dollar prize
Chris Wade def. Robert Watley via majority decision
Nathan Shulte def. Chris Wade via split decision
Former UFC lightweight Wade loses for a second time to Shulte this year and is bounced from the PFL playoff tournament.
Islam Mamedov def. Thiago Tavares by unanimous decision
Rashid Magomedov def. Thiago Tavares via TKO at 3:36, RD. 2
UFC veteran Tavares lost in both of his oppertunities in the PFL playoffs and was ousted from the tournament.
Will Brooks vs. Rashid Magomedov DRAW
Former Bellator lightweight champion Brooks was ousted from the PFL playoffs due to a draw and Magomedov having more points.
Ramsey Nijem def. Yuki Kawana via unanimous decision
UFC veteran Nijem snaps his two-fight losing streak and earns his first win under the PFL banner.
Brandon Halsey def. Ronny Markes via unanimous decision
Halsey has now won three of his last four fights while Markes suffers back-to-back losses.
PFL 2018 #10: Playoffs – Oct 20 (Washington, DC)
Former UFC middleweight Santos is now unbeaten in his last five fights.
John Howard def. Eddie Gordon via unanimous decision
John Howard vs. Louis Taylor DRAW
Howard ends up out of the PFL tournament after heading to a draw with Taylor.
Ray Cooper III def. Jake Shields via TKO at 3:10, RD. 1
Cooper finishes former UFC title challenger Shields in the rematch and then defeated Handesson Ferreira in the semi-finals to punch his ticket to the PFL welterweight tournament finals. Shields meanwhile has now lost three of his last five fights.
Rick Story (21-9) vs. Handesson Ferreira def Rick Story via verbal submission, RD. 2.
Ferreira earned his third win in a row while Story had his two-fight win streak snapped.
Pure FC 11 – Oct 27 (Oshkosh, Wisconsin)
Chico Camus def Matt Brown via submission
Former UFC bantamweight Camus earns back-to-back wins and has now won five of his last six fights since being released from the UFC. Brown meanwhile suffers his third straight loss.
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.
