Jose Torres Defeats Farkhad Sharipov in Titan FC 44 Main Event to Become Two-Division Titlist

Jose Torres can now call himself a Titan Fighting Championship two-division champion, but he had to survive some adversity to get there.

Torres earned a unanimous decision triumph over bantamweight king Farkhad Sharipov in the Titan FC 44 main event at Pembroke Pines City Center in Pembroke, Pines, Fla., on Friday night. Cageside judges scored the contest 48-47, 49-46 and 48-47 for Torres, who improved to 5-0 and now holds 135- and 125-pound belts in the promotion.

“The UFC said they wanted me to come back from adversity. Do you think I came back from adversity?” Torres said. “UFC, what are you waiting for?”

Sharipov (17-8) nearly made it a short night’s work when he dropped Torres with a left hook in the opening stanza and then locked up a guillotine on his still-dazed opponent. “Shorty” eventually escaped danger, however, and he was able to impose his will for much of the remainder of the bout.

The Chicago native kept the pressure on throughout, attacking with a multi-faceted standup arsenal. Torres also utilized his ground game in spots, landing takedowns and moderate ground-and-pound inside Sharipov’s guard. On some occasions, however, Torres simply stood and invited Sharipov to return to his feet when the action threatened to hit the canvas. While Sharipov remained a game foe down the stretch, he appeared to be limited after injuring his right hand in round three. After the bout, Torres said that both he and Sharipov suffered broken hands in the opening frame.

Elsewhere, one-time UFC competitor Kurt Holobaugh gradually overwhelmed Gesias Cavalcante en route to a technical knockout victory in the co-main event. The end came 2:45 into round four, giving Holobaugh the promotion’s interim lightweight crown and his third consecutive victory.

“UFC or not, me and ‘JZ’ are two of the best lightweights in the world, and we showed it tonight,” Holobaugh said. “Anybody who follows MMA knows who ‘JZ’ is. This is such a big win in my career. It’s amazing.”

After a measured opening frame, Holobaugh (17-4) began to pick up the pace in round two, as he pressured his opponent near the fence and landed punching combinations. Cavalcante (21-10-1) had his best moments in the third stanza, when he landed a body-lock takedown and spent much of the period in top position.

Holobaugh returned to the offensive in the fourth, and he backed the Strikeforce, Dream, K-1 and WSOF veteran into the fence with a flurry of punches before changing levels for a takedown. From there, Holobaugh proceeded to bloody and batter his Brazilian foe with punches and elbows from above. Eventually, the Louisiana native transitioned to mount and increased the intensity of his assault before referee Jorge Alonso stepped in to halt the contest.

In other action: Marc Stevens (21-10) defeated 1Gleidson DeJesus took a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) against Edir Terry at bantamweight; Michael Cora (4-1) knocked out Will Starks (1-1) at the 2:11 mark of round one in a welterweight clash; Jorge Calvo (10-1) outpointed (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Bruno Rodrigues Mesquita (7-2) at flyweight; Gustavo Eddy Balart garnered a unanimous decision triumph over Dez Moore in a flyweight affair; Michael Lombardo (3-0) earned a unanimous verdict (30-27, 30-26, 30-27) over Lorenzo Hunt (2-4) at middleweight; Demarques Jackson (6-1) defeated Paulo Silva via technical knockout 2:09 into round one at lightweight and Dan Ige (7-1) took a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Ronildo Augusto Braga (9-3) at featherweight.