After the UFC makes their debut in Scotland on Saturday afternoon, UFC Fight Pass will get even more work in, as Titan Fighting Championship makes their debut on the platform. Titan FC 34 will be a fantastic first effort for the promotion on Fight Pass, as the organization has put together a card with four title fights from lightweight down to flyweight. The main event of the evening underwent a change just recently, as Mike Ricci was forced out of his scheduled lightweight title challenge with Pat Healy. Marcus Edwards stepped in on short notice to take the fight in his place. Both men have earned victories in their past two bouts, and a win in this spot would probably go a long way towards earning them a call (or call back) from the UFC. The co-main event features another champion who is UFC veteran, as Kurt Holobaugh defends his featherweight title against undefeated Andre Harrison. Holobaugh’s all-around offensive game will be up against the strong wrestling and counter game of Harrison in an interesting clash of styles. Perhaps the title fight with the highest ceiling between the two competitors is the bantamweight bout featuring undefeated champion Brett Johns and former TUF contestant Anthony Gutierrez. England’s John made a big impression when he dominated UFC veteran Walel Watson to capture the title, while Gutierrez rebounded from a loss to Watson with a third round TKO of Austin Lyons in his last outing. Both Tim Elliott and Illiarde Santos were cut from the UFC after three consecutive losses, but now they will vie for Titan’s inaugural flyweight title. Santos won a decision in his Titan debut back in December, while this will mark Elliott’s first fight outside of the Octagon since 2012. The four title fights are joined by familiar faces like Cody Bollinger, Isaac Vallie-Flagg, Des Green, Dakota Cochrane, and Brazilian Vale Tudo legend ‘Pele’ to form one of the deepest non-UFC cards in a very long time. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for 10 fights on the Titan FC 34 card today at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– TITAN FC 34 (UFC Fight Pass, 7pm ET)
Non-title fights:
Cody Bollinger -170 Freddy Assuncao +130
Isaac Vallie-Flagg -210 Jason Witt +160 Desmond Green -350 Vince Eazelle +250 Dakota Cochrane -260 Mike Bruno +180 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: If Marcus Edwards wasn’t taking this fight on such short notice, I’d feel a whole lot better about his chances, but Pat Healy is not the type of fighter you want to agree to fight late. Always durable, it would be surprising if Edwards could get Healy out of there early, and I expect the champion to slowly take control of this fight. I actually think that Healy will be able to find a finish in the later rounds here, as Edwards is prone to making some mistakes as he tires, and that seems like a given in this spot. Andre Harrison hasn’t really shone the way I expected him to when he came over to Titan, but he’s still a very difficult matchup for most fighters, and his strengths line up pretty well with Holobaugh’s weaknesses. Despite that, I think Holobaugh’s experience — both against tougher competition and in five-rounders — will carry him to victory here. If Harrison is able to use his wrestling to control significant portions of this fight and steal a decision I would not be shocked though. One of the knocks on British fighters for pretty much the entirety of MMA’s history has been that the region simply doesn’t produce stout enough wrestlers to compete at the highest level. Although he hasn’t been outwrestling all-Americans thus far in his MMA career, it seems Brett Johns is one of the few who can break that stereotype. He has a very heavy top position game and has recently started to add a dangerous submission game on top of it. I think he’ll be able to close the distance and drag Anthony Gutierrez to the mat, where ‘Sharkbait’ will be content to work from his back in a losing effort. I’m not sure Johns gets the sub this time, but Walel Watson finished him recently, so it’s certainly not out of the question. I was really hoping that Tim Elliott’s inconsistent performances would result in a reduced line on him here, but it doesn’t seem like that will be the case. His UFC losses were all to top 10 fighters, and Iliarde Santos is a long way from that tier. Even if Elliott manages to put on one of his down performances, I think he should be able to take this fight over by round three. Santos doesn’t sport the best gas tank around, and at 34 now he’s hitting the age where flyweights simply cease to be effective. Elliott seems to be a pretty safe pick in this spot, and could be worth parlaying depending on how the line moves. It’s really hard to trust Cody Bollinger to show up and put on a solid performance (or make weight, for that matter), but I think you still have to side with him against Freddy Assuncao here. Assuncao has not fought since January 2014, and prior to that his last fight was June of 2012. That sort of inactivity is always tough to overcome, and even at his best I’m not sure Assuncao would have had the tools to overcome Bollinger’s wrestling and well-rounded skillset. I’m not going near Bollinger for a bet though. I’m not exactly sure what ‘Pele’ is trying to accomplish at this point in his career, but to his credit he’s won 6 of his last 7. I’m not sure that means he’s going to do very well against Tyler Stinson, but this is the exact type of opponent that the Brazilian can still look good against. It’s more likely Stinson is able to outwork ‘Pele’ to a decision, or perhaps even crack the 41-year-old chin, but nostalgia almost makes me want to bet ‘Pele’ at a crazy line. Isaac Vallie-Flagg is always a tough matchup for his opponents, and as long as he’s physically healthy that should be the case against Jason Witt. At this point I can’t really trust that he’s healthy however, so while I’m picking Ike to win, it’s a no bet. As far as the remaining fights go, I haven’t been able to get in-depth on them, but luckily most of them feature familiar faces. -Des Green and Dakota Cochrane seem set up in showcase bouts, as both men should be able to outgrapple their opponents. Green doesn’t always fight to his strengths, but his striking has improved enoufh that he can still be effective when he doesn’t follow a good gameplan. -Cochrane isn’t the most reliable guy in the world, but Mike Bruno has lost 3 of his last 4 fights, and his submission game hasn’t looked strong either. I may parlay Green, but I’ll be leaving Cochrane out of my plays for the weekend. -Phil Hawes is a solid wrestler facing a Brazilian brawler who has limited submission skill. This is a good sylistic matchup for Hawes, and I think he gets the job done without too much concern.