On this card there are a few UFC veterans, as well as other rising starts and prospects.
Titan Fighting Championships 17
Friday, March 25th, 2011
Kansas City, Kansas, United States
Heavyweight (265 lbs)
[#161 HW] Bobby Lashley (5 – 1 – 0) vs. [#269 MW] John Ott (8 – 7 – 0)
Former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley was originally scheduled to face James Jack [#243 HW] until the promoter was unable to reach Jack, according to a press release (sherdog). John Ott is the late replacement. Typically competing at 185 or 205, Ott most recently defeated Brian Imes at Bellator 26 on 8/26/10. Lashley has not competed since his first loss, which was to Chad Griggs via TKO(retirement) at Strikeforce-Houston on 8/21/10.
Heavyweight (265 lbs)
[#29] Abe Wagner (8 – 3 – 0) vs. [#51] Aaron Rosa (15 – 3 – 0)
Abe Wagner is riding the wave from his biggest victory to date. He shocked the world by defeating Tim Sylvia at Titan Fighting Championships 16 on 1/28/11 via TKO(punches) just 32 seconds into the first round. He will be facing Bellator and Strikeforce veteran Aaron Rosa, whose most recent bout was a unanimous decision victory over Devin Cole at Shark Fights 13 on 9/11/10. Rosa is on a three fight winning streak, and has won five of his last six fights.
Middleweight (185 lbs)
[#402] Phil Baroni (13 – 13 – 0) vs. [*] Nick Nolte (3 – 2 – 0)
“The New York Badass” Phil Baroni signed with Titan Fighting Championships back in January after being released from his second run in the UFC. Baroni is on a three fight losing streak, losing decisions to Joe Riggs on 6/6/09 in Strikeforce and Amir Sadollah at UFC 106 on 11/21/09. Most recently, Baroni was given his walking papers after losing to Brad Tavares via KO (punches and knees) at UFC 125 on 1/1/11. Nick Nolte is a Strikeforce and Bellator veteran, defeating Andy Waters via triangle choke at Strikeforce Challengers 5 on 11/20/2009 and lost to Drew Dober via arm triangle choke at Bellator 16 on 4/29/2010. His most recent fight was a victory over Lee Werr via rear naked choke at World Extreme Fighting on 11/20/10.
Catchweight (150 lbs)
[#35 FW] Eric Marriot (19 – 5 – 0) vs. [*] Willian de Souza (1 – 0 – 0)
Eric “The Machine” Marriot is coming off a victory over Ryan Roberts via unanimous decision at Bellator Fighting Championships 32 on 10/14/2010. To date, Eric Marriot has gone 2-1 in Bellator, losing to Joe Warren via unanimous decision in the opening round of the Bellator featherweight tournament on 4/8/2010. Willian de Souza has competed once before in professional MMA, a win over Travis Sveum via armbar submission on 8/27/2010.
Welterweight (170 lbs)
[#125] Aaron Derrow (10 – 2 – 0) vs. [#128] Alonzo Martinez (28 – 14 – 1)
Alonzo Martinez is a 1-1 Bellator veteran, losing to Toby Imada via rear naked choke in the opening round of the first Bellator lightweight tournament on 4/3/2009. Martinez most recently defeated Deryck Ripley via rear naked choke at Titan Fighting Championships 16 on 1/28/11. Martinez has won 6 of his last 7, losing only to Lloyd Woodward via rear naked choke submission on 7/16/2010. Aaron Derrow also last competed at Titan Fighting Championships 16 on 1/28/11, scoring a major upset by rendering UFC vet Rich Clementi unconscious via triangle choke. Derrow is on a five fight win streak. Originally these two were to face each other at Titan Fighting Championships 16 on 1/28/11, but instead Martinez fought Ripley and Derrow fought Clementi.
Lightweight (155 lbs)
[#257] James Krause (11 – 3 – 0) vs. [#308] Nathan Schut (11 – 5 – 0)
James Krause is a World Extreme Cagefighting and Bellator veteran. He went 0-2 in WEC, losing to Donald Cerrone by rear naked choke at WEC 41 on 6/7/2009 and lost to Ricardo Lamas via unanimous decision at WEC 44 on 11/18/2009. He is coming off a loss to Toby Imada via armbar submission at Bellator Fighting Championships 14 on 4/15/2010. Nathan Schut most recently defeated Andy Selvig via submission from punches at KOTC – Mainstream on 10/29/2010. Schut comes into this bout on a 5 fight win streak, while Krause has lost 3 of his last 4 (albeit against greater competition than Schut).
Also on the card:
Bantamweight (135 lbs)
[*]Anthony “Shark Bait” Gutierrez (1 – 0 – 0) vs. [*]Jon Hollis (1 – 1 – 0)