The co-main event of Titan FC 31 is a three-round featherweight bout between Desmond Green and Miguel Torres. According to the current betting lines available at Several Bookmakers, Green is a -280 favorite (bet $280 to win $100) while Torres is a +200 underdog (bet $100 to win $200). MMA linesetter Nick Kalikas opened up Green at -260 and Torres at +180, and the betting public has slightly bumped up the price on Green since then. I agree with the action coming in on Green as I see him winning this matchup. Here’s why. Green (11-3) was a Bellator tournament finalist earlier this year, losing to Daniel Weichel via second-round submission to lose the featherweight tournament. After going 3-2 overall in Bellator, the promotion decided to part ways with Green, presumably due to his wrestling-heavy fighting style, and he was quickly snatched up by Titan. Only 25 years of age, Green has a bright future in the sport if he can work on rounding out his game. He is already a solid wrestler and he has used his grappling skills to take over wins over the likes of Mike Richman, Rob Font and Henry Martinez so far in his young career. He is very good at landing takedowns and controlling his opponents from top position, and he is also good at pushing them against the fence and grinding them away to score decision wins. His striking isn’t very good, but training at TriStar gym now it’s sure to improve. Sure, he doesn’t have the most entertaining fighting style, but Green gets the job done for the most part and I think Titan FC picked up a gem here. Green recently told The Parting Shot Podcast that with a win over Torres he hopes to get into the UFC, and I definitely think if he wins this fight against the former WEC champ Torres that Joe Silva will be calling him. Torres (43-7) is the former WEC bantamweight champion and at one point in time was one of the pound-for-pound best in the world. The 33-year-old fighter has wins over the likes of Takeya Mizugaki, Yoshiro Maeda and Chase Beebe, and for the most part his losses have only come against top guys. After losing two in a row at bantamweight to Marlon Moraes and Michael McDonald, he moved up to featherweight last year, and has since gone 3-1, including wins in his last three-straight fights. Torres is mostly a submission-based fighter and has scored 24 career tapout wins. He also has underrated power, as his nine knockout wins attest to. He’s also extremely experienced. Unfortunately for Torres, he is on the decline, and his chin has shown signs of wear, which makes sense considering he’s had 50 fights. I don’t think he’s as bad as people seem to think he is — his losses are mostly to championship-caliber fighters — but there’s no doubt moving to 145lbs is a last-ditch effort by him to make a run in MMA and make some money while he still can. His best chance to beat Green will be to sub him off his back, and it’s definitely possible, but considering his lack of size at featherweight and considering his opponent, that’s easier said than done and that’s why he’s an underdog this weekend despite his storied career. I personally don’t feel like this is a tough fight to break down. Torres, despite his decline, is still a serviceable fighter, but Green is an up-and-comer at 145lbs and on paper is a really bad matchup for Torres, who I don’t think should be fighting at featherweight. Green is big for the weight class and we’ve seen in that past that Torres has problems dealing with bigger fighters. We’ve also seen that his takedown defence is poor and that he can be put on his back. Green has to be mindful of Torres’ submissions off the bottom, but as long as he can control things from top position he should be able to win this fight with his wrestling. At -280, I see value on Green as a very likely winner and believe he is worth putting into a parlay.
