After a long night of fights, most of which went the distance, Friday’s Titan FC 37 main event ended emphatically when Anderson dos Santos (14-3) choked Ricky Simon (7-1) with a brutal submission.
The headlining contest was originally scheduled to determine a new owner of the vacant bantamweight championship, but when dos Santos missed weight he was no longer eligible to win the belt and it became a title fight just for Simon.
Although it was of his own doing, the loss of the chance to hold Titan FC gold apparently didn’t sit well with dos Santos. He locked up a tight rear-naked choke in the second round that forced the referee to intervene after Simon went to sleep.
The UFC Fight Pass-streamed main event at Clark Count Event Center in Ridgefield, Wash., was all-action from the beginning. Dos Santos and Simon met in the center of the cage to throw punches and engage in fierce grappling exchanges.
Each man had points where they were ahead only to fall behind, but in the end it was dos Santos who capitalized on a mistake from Simon to take the back and lock in the submission.
Dos Santos apologized for his weigh-in error after the victory and said he hopes to have the chance to win the title he missed out on in his next Titan FC appearance.
“Thank you, Titan FC, for giving me the chance to fight,” dos Santos said through an interpreter. “I have no excuses. I missed one pound, but next time this never happens again. Next time I’ll be back strong. I am the champion (and) this is my belt.”
Harrison keeps strap with split call over Siler
Andre Harrison (12-0) once again failed to thrill, but in the end he earned another victory and another featherweight title defense when he topped a resilient Steven Siler (28-15) by split decision in the co-main event.
Harrison picked up his ninth decision out of 12 career wins when he kept Siler on his back foot for the majority of five rounds with the help of his quick hands, powerful takedown attempts and smothering top game.
The matchup pitted Siler’s length and slick submission game against Harrison’s deflating style. When Harrison let his hands go, he connected with multiple clean punches to his opponent’s chin, but he refused to follow-up and truly pursue a finish.
When the fight wasn’t in striking range, Harrison was usually pressuring Siler against the fence or in top control making little effort to find a stoppage. “Super” nearly made Harrison pay for his lack of killer instinct with multiple near-submission attempts, but every time Harrison was caught in a potentially fight-ending choke, he managed to escape.
Although Siler came closer to finishing the bout on multiple occasions, the judges ultimately awarded the most points to Harrison’s control as he walked away with the victory by split scores of 49-46, 47-48, 49-46.
Harrison advanced to 5-0 under the Titan FC banner with the victory, but has earned all of those victories by going the distance. Nevertheless, he said afterward he was pleased with his showing.
“It’s a great, great relief,” Harrison said after the victory. “Steven, thank for taking the fight, man. It was a great, great fight.”
Unorthodox Elliot extends reign with dominant defense
Tim Elliot (13-6-1) defended his Titan FC flyweight championship for the second time with a dominant performance, but it didn’t come without an early scare.
Elliot was dropped in the first round by challenger Pedro Nobre (17-2-2), but quickly recovered and overtook the fight for a unanimous decision nod. Elliott put his unorthodox striking and unpredictable takedown game to use and threw his opponent off his game.
While Nobre had other moments over the course of the high-paced 25-minute affair, Elliott was always a step ahead. The champion absorbed some hard shots but continued to move forward until time expired and he handed Nobre just the second defeat of his pro career by scores of 50-45, 50-46 and 49-46.
Following a three-fight skid under the UFC banner, Elliott improved to 3-0 since he was released from the promotion in February 2015. Nobre, meanwhile, had his six-fight unbeaten steak snapped with the loss in more than three years.
Complete Titan FC 37 results included:
- Anderson dos Santos def. Ricky Simon via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:38
- Andre Harrison def. Steven Siler via split decision (49-46, 47-48, 49-46) – to defend featherweight title
- Tim Elliott def. Pedro Nobre via unanimous decision (50-46, 50-45, 49-46) – to defend flyweight title
- Pat Healy def. Muhsin Corbbrey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Grant Dawson def. Robert Washington via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:08
- Jason Novelli def. Zak Bucia via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Gabriel Solorio def. Anthony Gutierrez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- E.J. Brooks def. Ben Egli via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Austin Arnett def. David Burrows via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Jose Torres def. Jorge Dominguez via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:09
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