Matt Alan Veach (born May 31, 1981) is a retired American

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter who most recently competed in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

, the MFC, and

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under ...

Background

Born and raised in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, Veach started wrestling in the sixth grade and competed for 12 years. He was a high school state placer, Junior College All-American, and a D-1 NCAA qualifier for

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...

Mixed martial arts career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Veach made his

debut at UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens, facing off against

veteran,

Matt Grice Matt Grice (born July 29, 1981) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He was in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in the featherweight division before suffering a traumatic brain injury in a traffic accident in Shawnee, Oklahoma ...

. After getting knocked down in a brief exchange early in the first round, Veach quickly recovered and dropped Grice, following up with punches on the ground as the referee halted the bout at 4:34 of the very first round, giving Matt the win via TKO. At The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale in a fight against Frank Edgar as a replacement for an injured

Kurt Pellegrino Kurt Joseph Pellegrino (born May 7, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the lightweight division for Bellator Fighting Championships and Ultimate Fighting Championship. He’s a former WEC champion. Early life Pell ...

, Veach made his second appearance in the

. The first round was very close; Edgar controlled most of the standup part of the round, while Veach landed numerous takedowns and slams. However, early in the second round, Edgar caught Veach with an over hand right that stunned him, leaving him open for Edgar to take him to the ground, achieve the back mounted position and sink in a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

for the win at 2:22 of round two. This marked the first loss of Veach's professional mixed martial arts career. Veach faced Paul Kelly at

UFC 112 ''UFC 112: Invincible'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 10, 2010, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Due to the time zone difference in Abu Dhabi, UFC 112 was shown live on pay-per-view in the U ...

, losing via second round submission. The loss was his second straight getting him released from his UFC contract.

Post UFC

After being released from the UFC, Veach continued to train with Matt Hughes and

Robbie Lawler Robert Glenn Lawler (born March 20, 1982) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed between 2001 and 2023. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion, former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in ...

at The HIT Squad. He won 4 straight fights in different promotions following his UFC release.

Maximum Fighting Championships

In February 2011, Veach signed with the Canadian promotion, MFC. His debut came at the main card of

MFC 28 ''MFC 28: Supremacy'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) on February 25, 2011 at the River Cree Casino in Enoch, Alberta. Background Antonio McKee was originally scheduled to defend his lightweight ti ...

against

Drew Fickett Drew Fickett (born December 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, Fickett has also formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM, Cage Rage, the XFC, ...

. Veach took the fight with only five days notice, stepping in for the MFC lightweight champion, Antonio McKee. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

BAMMA

Veach faced off against 'Judo'

Jim Wallhead Jim Wallhead (born 14 March 1984) is an English former professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight division. He has competed for BAMMA, Bellator MMA, Bellator, and M-1 Challenge and ...

in the main event of

12 in Newcastle, England on March 9, 2013. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 17–5 , Steven Mann , Submission (armbar) , Shamrock FC 279 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:10 ,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–5 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:05 ,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, North East England , , - , Win , align=center, 16–4 , Zac Kelley , TKO (punches) , C3 Fights: Rumble at Red Rock , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:58 ,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–4 , Eric Wisely , Submission (armbar) , Gladiator Cage Fights: Knockout Night 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:49 ,

Marion, Illinois The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population in Marion, IL was 16,855 according to the 2020 census. It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of early 20th-century coal fields ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–3 ,

, Submission (armbar) , MFC 28: Supremacy , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:36 ,

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada , Catchweight (160 lbs) bout. , - , Win , align=center, 15–2 , Donavon Winters , Decision (split) , Capital City Cage Wars 6 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Springfield, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–2 , Kenneth Rosfort-Nees , Decision (unanimous) , Cage Warriors 38: Young Guns , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2 , McKenzie Jackson , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Mainstream MMA: Swing Back , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–2 , Kalel Robinson , Decision (unanimous) , 28 Productions , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–2 , Paul Kelly , Submission (guillotine choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:41 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, United Arab Emirates ,

bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 11–1 ,

Frankie Edgar Frankie Edgar (born October 16, 1981) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Beginning his career in the Lightweight division ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:22 ,

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:34 ,

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Alex Carter , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Capital City Cage Wars , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:05 , Springfield, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

Diego Brandão Diego Brandão (born 27 May 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2005, he formerly competed for the UFC, RIZIN, and Fight Nights Global. He was the winner of Spike TV ...

, TKO (injury) , Pro Battle MMA: Immediate Impact , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:28 , Springdale, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Brent Mehrhoff , Submission (rear-naked choke) , XFO 25: Outdoor War 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:22 , Island Lake, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Matt MacGrath , Decision (unanimous) , MFC 16: Anger Management , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Edgar Wade , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Iowa Challenge 44 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 , Keokuk, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Marcus Hermann , Submission (triangle choke) , Iowa Challenge 42 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 ,

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jason West , TKO (punches) , Extreme Challenge 82 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:24 , Springfield, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Charles Wilson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pure Force 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:36 ,

Tinley Park Tinley Park is a village in Cook and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 55,971 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Chicago metropolitan area. History 19th century Modern settlement of the area now known as Ti ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Adam Therriault , Submission (punches) , Shootfighting Challenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:35 ,

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , John Chester , TKO , Supreme Fighting Challenge , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A , Belleville, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Veach, Matt American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Living people 1981 births Sportspeople from Granite City, Illinois Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers