With its debut on UFC Fight Pass in the books Titan FC is making its inaugural trip to the Pacific Northwest. The northwest has long been a hotbed for mixed martial arts talent so it’s no wonder the promotion is venturing so far outside of its Florida base. Titan FC 35 will take place Saturday September 19th at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield, Washington and will air live on UFC Fight Pass. The event will feature three title fights including a lightweight title fight that pits Portland, Oregon MMA star Pat “Bam Bam” Healy against former Olympic judoka, Rick Hawn. Hawn, originally from Eugene, Oregon, will be fighting in his home state for the first time in his professional career. Many of the top up and coming fighters from the Portland area have been brought in by Titan FC for this event so this could be the first of many shows in the northwest provided these prospects pan out. I recently spoke with Titan FC CEO Jeff Aronson about the event and he seemed very excited to be headed to Washington.
“The Pacific Northwest is home to a tremendous amount of high-level fighters, current UFC fighters, UFC Champions. I thought this would be a great trip for Titan. We have yet to go to the west coast and I thought the northwest would offer a great environment for the fight week experience for [both] the fighters and the fans.”
The decision to head west comes on the heels of Titan FC’s debut on UFC Fight Pass. I asked Jeff how the bump from Fight Pass has changed things for Titan and what, if anything has been most noticeable since the partnership became official.
“The Fight Pass push has been amazing. Having the UFC PR machine behind us has been dramatic to say the least. You’ll notice over the course of the next couple weeks you’ll start seeing massive advertising for Titan during UFC programming, they [are going to] start pushing it hard. It’s just been unbelievable. During the first Fight Pass event was the first time Titan has every trended [so high on Twitter]. We were the number two trending topic in the world the night of that event. Another interesting fact about that event, 90% of Fight Pass subscribers either watched part or all of that event within the first week of it being available.”
Clearly the decision to partner with the UFC is paying off and it means that Titan can focus on their hopeful expansion. Whether or not a return trip to the northwest is in those cards remains to be seen. In talking with Jeff it was clear to me that he was very excited about the talent Titan had signed out of Portland but he didn’t want to count his chickens before they had hatched.
“There are so many high level guys that are on this card and on paper and film they look great, but until they get out there and I can really see what these guys can do it’s hard to say [if they will pan out]. On paper and on film they look phenomenal. But until they can get under these brighter lights and prove they can perform it’s difficult. But the film I am seeing it’s really, really exciting.”
The night’s main and co-main event feature matchups that would appear primed to end in exciting fashion. The co-main event will pit two of the hottest featherweight prospects in the sport against each other as Andre Harrison and Desmond Green square off in what many expect will be the fight of the night. If you ask Jeff Aronson he believes that there is more on the line in this fight than just a title.
“This fight a battle of the two best featherweights in the world that are not in the UFC. I am sure the winner of that fight is going to get the call [to join the UFC] almost immediately.”
If his prediction is true there is definitely a lot on the line for Green and Harrison. For Green an invitation to the UFC would seem less likely in my eyes. While he has the talent to fight at that level he hasn’t been able to sustain a deep win streak and in the UFC win streaks are expected. If Green has finally put it all together he most certainly could make waves. Harrison on the other hand has proven that he is consistent, powerful and motivated. Harrison is known for going the distance in many of his fights but that doesn’t mean can’t end a fight swiftly. Harrison has a very well rounded game and will prove a stiff test for Green.
The main event is a battle of veterans. Fighters with the experience level of Pat Healy and Rick Hawn are a joy to watch fight. While Hawn is an Olympian in Judo and Healy comes from a wrestling background you wouldn’t know it if you watched them fight. These two fighters are aggressive; neither is likely to voluntarily move backwards in the cage and that will make for a fight with great action. When I talked to Jeff about this matchup he felt like this fight would come down to mistake free fighting.
“Rick has great hands, Pat has great hands. Whoever makes the first mistake in this fight is going to get capitalized on. These are two guys who are not going to make a rookie mistake. If somebody does make a mistake, if somebody does [give up] the back they are going to capitalized on it.”
I believe this fight comes down to range and footwork. Controlling the distance in this fight will be critical for Healy if he hopes to use his power against Hawn without leaving himself vulnerable to Hawn’s excellent judo. In the case of Hawn he will likely look to use his length and speed to force Healy’s movement toward his power hand. Either way it seems that this fight will end without needed assistance from the judges.
Titan FC 35 has all the pieces to create an exciting night of fights. This card has an old school feeling about it. Something you might have heard about in a time before The Ultimate Fighter. When I look over the card and see young fighters like, Ryan Walker, Jake Smith, Ricky Simon and Felipe Efrain I can imagine any one of them fighting along side the pros who inspired them to fight in the first place. Hopefully these young fighters can use the UFC Fight Pass platform as a way to inspire the next generation of fighters who will in their footsteps.
Titan FC will air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.
The bout order is as follows:
- Pat Healy vs. Rick Hawn – lightweight title
- Andre Harrison vs. Desmond Green – featherweight title
- Tim Elliott vs. Felipe Efrain – flyweight title
- Zane Kamaka vs. Belal Muhammad
- Steven Siler vs. Austin Springer
- J. Brooks vs. Jason Novelli
- Ricky Simon vs. Alex Soto
- Jake Smith Taki Uluilakepa
- Trey Ogden vs. Ryan Walker
- Mohammad Abed vs. Pete Petties
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