Titan FC returns to Miami this Friday night with a stacked 10-fight card.
The headliner will involve Titan FC flyweight champion, Victor Dias (9-2), who makes his first title defense against Ryskullbek Ibraimov (19-5). Also on the card top bantamweight prospect Ryan Kuse (4-0), top flyweight prospect Roy Echeverria (5-0) and Dana White’s Contender Series veteran, Muhammad Naimov (5-2).
Although the card is packed with high level mixed martial arts bouts, there might be a few fights flying under your radar. These 3 bouts all have fight of the night potential and could be a bit underappreciated.
Christian Ynastrilla (6-3) vs. Nate Williams (31-21)
This is a very high level fight between two tenured martial artists. Christian Ynastrilla will make his long awaited return to the Titan FC cage this weekend. Ynastrilla looks to bounce back after two tough losses, one with Titan FC flyweight gold on the line. The former title challenger is a nasty submission specialist. If you take Ynastrilla down, you better be good at defending submissions in his guard. The 25-year-old has an unbelievable submission game from the bottom and is known for his triangle choke. Ynastrilla has finished five of his six wins by way of submission.
Nate Williams is a veteran of 52 pro martial arts bouts, including a short stint with Bellator. He has been in the cage with the likes of Zach Makovsky, Brandon Royval, and former Titan FC flyweight champion, Juan Puerta. Williams is known for his finishing ability, 26 of 31 wins have come by way of finish. He too is quite the submission specialist earning 16 of his 31 wins by submission. One aspect of Williams’ game that Ynastrilla will have to be cautious of is his powerful right hand.
As both fighters are quality, well-rounded martial artists, we are in for quite the battle this weekend.
Soslan Abanokov (5-4-1) vs. Ty Kalista (6-5)
In the main card’s opener, we have quite the banger of a matchup. Two-time WSOF vet, Soslan Abanokov, takes on Jiu-Jitsu specialist Ty Kalista. Abanokov is set to make his first walk to the cage in almost two and a half years and his Titan FC debut this weekend. Two of his last four fights have been against current UFC fighters in Journey Newsome and Jordan Rinaldi. It's safe to Abanokov has had a tough strength of schedule. He might be known as wrestler, but he has a powerful kickboxing skillset as well. His low kicks are vicious and his style is aggressive. I expect Abanokov to be the one dictating the pace and being first in striking exchanges.
Ty Kalista's name is painted in the Titan FC history books as the lone fighter to win a Titan FC bout by way of submission via twister. Kalista turned pro just over two years ago and is set to make his twelfth pro MMA appearance Friday night. In fact, this will be his second fight in just 13 days, as he earned a unanimous decision win on September 4th. Kalista's Jiu-Jitsu skillset is a problem for just about anyone; be aware of his leg locks, armbars and chokes. The 24-year-old has improved every single time he steps in the cage and he never has an easy bout. This will be no different.
Don't blink during this featherweight bout because, without a doubt, it has fight-of-the-night potential.
Asa Ten Pow (0-0) vs. Kobe Bowen (2-0)
This bout has striking war written all over it. In his 7-fight career for Glory Kickboxing, Asa Ten Pow went 6-1 with one knockout. He also is 3-0 in Muay Thai with all three wins by stoppage. As some may know him for his tenured Kickboxing and Muay Thai careers, he is quite the complete martial artist. In his lone amateur MMA win back in 2012 he earned a submission win.
Most people know Asa Ten Pow and his prolific kickboxing resume, but don’t overlook Barbados native, Kobe Bowen. Bowen is 7-1 in kickboxing as well as 2-0 in pro MMA. He’s even earned a gold medal in Sanda Kickboxing. His last bout was a bare knuckle boxing scrap in December. With these two quality standup scrappers paired up, it’s inevitable there will be fireworks in this one.
By Coby Weinsier