While there is no UFC event this weekend, UFC Fight Pass will still be busy as Titan FC 35 will air on the subscription service. The card is another title filled bill, as three of Titan’s belts will be on the line on Saturday night. The main event features defending lightweight champion Pat Healy taking on two-time Bellator tournament champion Rick Hawn. Both men have looked good since moving on from the promotions they became most known for, with Healy picking up three wins and Hawn scoring two since leaving the UFC and Bellator respectively. Healy has always proven to be one of the toughest fighters in MMA, while Hawn has only been stopped twice in his 24-fight career, so this could cap off a night of lengthy fights similar to Titan’s last card. Newly minted featherweight champion Andre Harrison will make the first defense of his belt against former champion Desmond Green, who worked his way back to a title shot with a 32-second knockout in his last Titan appearance. Harrison has gone the distance in all three of his Titan FC bouts, and 7 of 10 overall in his career, meaning that we could be in store for a five-round affair in this one. Tim Elliott brought some excitement in the opening rounds of his flyweight title bout against Iliarde Santos, but then began to focus more on showboating than fighting, and nearly let the Brazilian back into the fight. He has a chance to redeem his performance against a far younger, less experienced Brazilian on Saturday, as 21-year-old Felipe Efrain fights for the first time outside of his home country in the biggest fight of his career. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for these three title bouts as well as two additional fights on the Titan FC 35 card today at Several Bookmakers. Take a look: ——————– MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 8pm ET)
——————– Brad’s Analysis: I kind of like what Titan is trying to do, signing and giving the best available fighters high profile fights, but at the same time this card could be another example of it not working. Sometimes, the best available fighters are available because they’re not the most exciting, and that has plagued some previous Titan cards. The main event should be closely contested, but eventually I expect that Pat Healy’s activity will stifle any offense that Rick Hawn can muster. Healy may struggle to get Hawn to the mat and truly impose his game, but he will be the one pushing the pace, throwing more volume on the feet, and generally being the aggressor. Against a low output fighter like Hawn, that should be enough to secure the victory. Harrison/Green is tricky. Green has shown flashes that he can be more than just a grinder, but they’ve usually come against lower level competition. Harrison has created no such illusion with fans. His bouts are likely going to see the final bell, and it’s just a matter of if his opponents can stop enough of his takedowns to make it a competitive bout. So far they’ve been unable to, but Green has the best wrestling of anyone he’s faced to this point, which creates an interesting matchup. Green hasn’t pulled the trigger enough for my liking in the past, and I think that may be the one thing that holds him back from recapturing his featherweight belt in another nip-and-tuck title bout. It’s really hard to know what you’re getting with a fighter like Felipe Efrain. He’s so young and has faced a litany of terrible competition to this point in his career, but clearly has some talent. I don’t think that will be enough to dethrone Tim Elliott in his first trip to the US, but stranger things have happened. Elliott is prone to inconsistent performances, but even at his worst he still tends to only lose to top fighters, and we have no evidence that Efrain is there yet.