Coming off a huge win over Japanese MMA legend Mach Sakurai on NYE’s Dynamite show, Jason High looks to keep his momentum going in 2011 as he will take on former Strikeforce and Bellator veteran Rudy Bears on the Titan FC 16 event, which will be televised on HDNet.
The Titan Fighting Championship (www.TitanFighting.com) officially announced today that standout welterweight Jason High has been added to its scheduled Titan Fighting Championship 16 event on January 28. The show, which will be televised live on HDNet (www.HD.net) and is set to emanate from the historic Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, will be headlined by two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia facing Abe Wagner, a veteran from the tenth season of the Spike TV hit reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.
The addition of High to the card comes off the heels of his impressive win on New Year’s Eve in Japan during DREAM’s “Dynamite!!” event over Japanese MMA legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. High entered the bout as the underdog but walked away with a decision victory over Sakurai despite the fact that he was fighting in Sakurai’s home country.
A veteran of the UFC and Affliction, High returns home to his native Kansas City to take on Bellator Fighting Championships and Strikeforce veteran Rudy Bears. Bears, a former world champion kickboxer, lives and trains in the Kansas City area and the High vs. Bears matchup could determine who is arguably the city’s best welterweight.
“On paper, High vs. Bears has a chance to be the fight of the night,” commented Titan Fighting CEO Joe Kelly. “Jason is coming off the biggest win of his career and Rudy’s last fight was a brilliant TKO victory over UFC veteran Chad Reiner during a Bellator show. Both Jason and Rudy are going to tear the roof off of Memorial Hall.”
HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon added, “It’s great to feature Jason in two high profile televised fights within 30 days on HDNet. Jason deserves the exposure as he fought an intelligent fight on New Year’s Eve at Dynamite!! on Sakurai’s home turf and still found a way to come out with a decision. I am looking forward to seeing the two hometown guys fight for bragging rights in Kansas City.”
In addition to his recent win over Reiner, Bears, 12-6, also holds notable victories in his career over Brendan Seguin, Brian Green, and Ted Worthington. Nicknamed “Bad News,” Bears is an instructor at the Caveman Crew fight gym and competes regularly in marathons.
With the win over Sakurai on Friday, High improved to 12-3. He has now won three consecutive fights following a decision loss to Charlie Brenneman in his one and only UFC appearance. High also holds notable wins over Strikeforce veteran Andre Galvao and UFC veterans Kevin Burns and James Giboo. An impressive win over Bears could earn him the designation of being the highest profile unsigned fighter in the welterweight division.
High vs. Bears will be featured during the national televised broadcast of Titan Fighting Championships 16 on Jan. 28 starting at 10:00 p.m. ET/9:00 p.m. CT with the local undercard starting at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT. Tickets for the event, which will emanate from the historic Memorial Hall ( www.MemorialHallKC.com), are currently on-sale at Ticketmaster.com and the Memorial Hall box office.
Payout Perspective:
Titan FC 16 will be headlined by former UFC HW champion Tim Sylvia, as he takes on former TUF participant Abe Wagner. Todd Duffee taking on Abe Wagner was the planned main event for the telecast, but Duffee accepted the last second invite to the Japanese NYE Dynamite event to take on Strikeforce HW champion Alistair Overeem for the Interim DREAM HW championship belt.
It’s great to see HDNet provide a platform for young promising fighters such as Duffee and High to increase their value as fighters, and hopefully catch the attention of promotions that are willing to use them as main events or to attract offers from other promotions to keep developing their careers as mixed martial artists.
Titan FC 16 Card:
Date: January 28, 2011
Venue: Memorial Hall
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
– Tim Sylvia (28-6) vs Abe Wagner (8-2)
– Jason High (10-3) vs Rudy Bears (12-6)
– Drew McFedries (8-6) vs. Gary Tapasua (6-1)
– L.C. Davis (15-4) vs Jared Downing (5-0)
– Aaron Derrow (8-2) vs Alonzo Martinez (28-12)
Getting onto HDNet even once is probably more exposure than a promotion like Titan gets in a year. It would be interesting to see what it does for their ticket sales in both the short and long run.
I applaud HDNET for putting this card on live. I will definitely be watching. The more MMA on TV the better. I also like that Titan is stepping up with what looks like an entertaining card which includes “known” fighters. I had never heard of them before and wonder if they got some new form of equity as they only had 2 cards in 2008 and 2009 each. This is good news for all MMA fans, and a positive step for the industry as fighters have additional options on smaller cards (TV may mean a little better payout as well) with the goal of improving the major organizations.
jv, daniel:
Getting on TV is always good for the promotion and the fighters. It means more sponsorship dollars and more exposure. It’s great to see fighters continue to develop their MMA careers in a way where fans can follow their progress. One of the many reasons I love HDNet! =)