Saturday in Florida, the Titan FC 31 card went down, and along with the all-women’s Invicta, they were alone on the MMA landscape as both the UFC and Bellator had the weekend off. The card was not without it’s rocky points as the main event featuring Yoshiyuki Yoshida and Mike Ricci vying for the group’s Lightweight title was made into a non-title affair and then quickly cancelled. Ricci was a 4-to-1 favorite over Yoshida, with the cancelled fights meaning all bets on the fight were off.
Moved up to main event status was the Bantamweight feature between Desmond Green and Miguel Torres. Torres, a UFC and WSOF veteran with 50 fights and an impressive 43-7 was the underdog (+170) to Green, who returned (-200). There were already a lot of questions around how much Torres has left, as he had won 3 fights on regional shows to get here after dropping three in a row. A few of Torres losses saw him submitted or KO’d ugly, and this match with Green ended in less than 1 minute.
At Heavyweight, Japan’s Ken Hasegawa remained undefeated, moving his record to 9-0-1 with a decision win over veteran Matt Thompson. Hasegawa may ultimately belong in the Light Heavyweight or perhaps event the Middleweight class, as he tired in the fight after a good start. Despite that, he can be a crowd pleaser at this weight, but a run at Heavyweight for Hasegawa in the UFC or even Bellator would likely end rudely for him. Hasegawa returned (-165).
Hayder Hassan showed his heavy hands, flattening opponent Felipe Portela a little past halfway in the opening round. Heading into the fight, Hassan was at (-102), so it was pretty much a pick ’em. Hassan, who they call the ‘Hulk’ has racked up a lot of first round stoppages with his punching power. Portela drops to 8-2, and is 1-2 after a solid 7-0 start, so it is back to the drawing board for him.
Here is a video of Miguel Torres in an interview just prior to this match-up with Green. he sounds like he understands his position in the sport as he is reflecting on his career. No disrespect, but he may need to leave the competition and move on while he still has his health and a solid legacy:
