Mixed martial arts is full of scumbag promoters, and some sterling ones. Titan FC CEO Jeff Aronson wears a white hat.
In the latest example, Switzerland’s Volkan Oezdemir was supposed to fight in the co-main event of Titan FC 43 tonight. Yesterday Oezdemir was supposed to be weighing in, but instead he was signed by the UFC, to fight Ovince Saint Preux at UFC Fight Night 104 on February 4 in Houston, Texas.
That left Titan FC without a co-main event, but it was Aronson who reached out to the UFC and suggested Oezdemir, when OSP’s original opponent, Jan Blachowicz, withdrew with an injury.
“We have this tagline at Titan – fans, fighters first,” said McMahon to Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. … “There comes a time when you have to be more than just marketing. You have to mean what you say.”
“I felt that Volkan really had an opportunity to get to the UFC if he had a good performance. Just because of circumstance, he really wasn’t getting that chance. … He deserved the opportunity, man. That’s the bottom line. I thought he really deserved the opportunity.”
“It’s synergistic. We sometimes lose out on building brandable fighters, fighters we can have a long run with. But on the flip side people know we’re going to get great fighters because I think guys know we’re going to give them a fair shake.”
Oezdemir is 12-1, and on a two-fight win streak. OSP is on a two-fight losing streak, to Jon Jones and Jimi Manuwa.
Titan FC 43 will air tonight on UFC Fight Pass. It headlined by a title fight between flyweight champion Jose Torres and challenger Pedro Nobre.
Jose Torres vs. Pedro Nobre
Caio Uruguai vs. Michael Quinones
Valdir Araujo vs. Preston Parsons
Raush Manfio vs. Matt Frevola
Bruce Lutchmedial vs. Anderson Hutchinson
Mehdi Hassan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
William Starks vs. Jose Andre Cortes
Carlos Hernandez vs. Gustavo Balart