Based in South Florida, Titan Fighting Championship has long been a springboard for both UFC and Bellator Fighters, providing fans with exciting, high-level matchups and last night was no exception. Two preliminary bouts were broadcast on the promotions Facebook page, and the main card played on UFC Fight Pass. Charles Rosa and Jose “Shorty” Torres narrated the action with the highest level of professionalism, expertise and energy. The action took place at the Intercontinental Hotel Miami with a very enthusiastic crowd.
The main card exploded with a brutal contest between Kendly St. Louis (3-3-0) and Slava “Slava Claus” Borschev (3-1-0), a seasoned K-1 Kickboxer from Russia with UFC star Urijah Faber in his corner. From the opening bell, Borschev’s kickboxing skills were frustrating St. Louis. Landing low-kicks to the calves of St. Louis and alternating with high kicks, body punches and knees, Slava pressed the action. Midway through the round, St. Louis was surviving but taking punishment. With about forty-five seconds left in the first round, St. Louis landed an overhand right dropped Slava. Now St. Louis put his purple-belt in BJJ to good use and dominated the rest of the round. Slava managed to survive the strangulation attempts of St. Louis and was saved by the bell.
Slava opened round two with a hard body kick and began scoring with nasty combinations to the body. St. Louis showed the heart of a warrior and scored a takedown where he had the clear advantage. Slava fought his way back to his feet and ripped combinations to the body of St. Louis. Another takedown attempt paused the onslaught but Slava quickly regained his footing and continued to attack. Slava landed a left hand to the liver of St. Louis that slowed St. Louis down and turned the tide completely in Slava’s favor. St. Louis stayed in the fight and opened a cut above Slava’s left eye but Slava’s attack was overwhelming, landing round kicks to the head and finally another shot to the liver that dropped St. Louis to his knees. The fight was called at 4:41 of round two and Borschev took the TKO victory.
Another absolute beast of a fighter is Angel Alvarez (1-0-0), a ten-time Cuban National Judo Champion, who took on Sanford MMA’s James Hay (3-1-0). Alvarez has been training at the Goat Shed Academy under coach Asim Zaidi, who ended a tremendous week with fighters from his stable taking home wins at BKFC18, Titan FC70, and even the Florida State Golden Gloves. This contest ended in an unanimous decision for Alvarez with all judges scoring the fight 30-27.
Fellow Goat Shed fighter and highly touted prospect Roy Echeverria (4-0-0) ended his bout with a more definitive statement in the form a beautiful oblique kick to a spinning hook kick combination against Earnest Walls (2-17-0), who stepped in as a last minute replacement. Walls seeked redemption for a prior loss to “The Unbroken” Roy in the night’s co-main event. Echeverria is an exciting, all around mixed-martial artist and a highly technical striker who is very likely to remain undefeated in the bantamweight division at Titan.
The night also saw the highly anticipated professional MMA debut of Talita Alencar, a multi-title holding Jiu-Jitsu champion from Brazil. As expected, Talita finished her opponent Staci Vega via Rear Naked Choke at 4:41 of the first round.
Heavyweight Denzel Freeman (2-0-0), an accomplished wrestler and Tae-Kwon Do Red belt defeated Duane Crespo (debut) at forty-seven seconds of round one. The 204-pound southpaw landed a left round kick to the body and followed up with punches that forced the referee stoppage. In the main event, American Top Team’s Bruno Assis took on Shane O’Shea for the vacant Titan FC Middleweight Championship. The fight opened at full throttle and was another back and forth match until Assis managed to secure a dominant position on the ground. The fight ended at 2:22 of round one when Assis transitioned from an armor to a triangle choke, securing another strap for the overflowing trophy case at American Top Team in Coconut Creek.
