Michael Graves (left) defends Titan FC welterweight title against Yuri Villefort (right)
Yuri Villefort steps up to fight welterweight champion Michael Graves in Titan FC 59 main event
Titan Fighting Championship welterweight champion Michael Graves (8-1-2) has a new opponent for the main event of Titan FC 59 on February 28 after visa complications have forced interim champion Kamal Magomedov off the card.
Graves will now meet former UFC fighter Yuri Villefort (12-7) at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Six main card bouts will be broadcast live via UFC FIGHT PASS, the world’s leading digital subscription service for combat sports.
The 29-year-old champion Graves will defend his title for the first time since capturing the interim belt with a unanimous decision win over Jared Gooden at Titan FC 53 almost a year ago. After then champion Uros Jurisic was stripped of his title in September 2019, Graves was crowned the promotion’s undisputed champion at 170-pounds.
Villefort makes his Titan FC debut coming off a first round finish of Joey Munoz in November.
“MMA is a crazy sport. So many variables go into matching and promoting a fight and as often happens things out of our control can derail the most exciting of fights,” said Titan FC COO Lex McMahon. “But here’s the thing, every time a fight falls apart, our team busts their ass to make a comparable or better fight so there is no drop off in the product we deliver our fans and our partners at UFC Fight Pass. Unfortunately, we lost our interim champion from this card, but we were able to replace him with the very dangerous and exciting UFC veteran Yuri Villefort. The Mike Graves vs. Yuri Villefort title fight will be an absolute war and is a fight that is not to be missed!”
Also, one of the hottest lightweight prospects in the world 25-year old Max Rohskopf (4-0) makes his Titan FC debut. An NCAA wrestler at North Carolina, Rohskopf entered MMA with a strong grappling background. The Ohioan has only had four MMA bouts but was already named one of MMA Junkie’s “20 Fighters Who Could Become Stars in the 2020s.” Rohskopf faces Paulo Silva (6-5) of Brazil in the night’s co-main event.
“We are very excited for Max’s Titan FC debut,” said his manager Brian Butler-Au, CEO of SuckerPunch Entertainment. “This kid is just built for the sport and utilizing every aspect of it at a very high-level. Everybody that has come in contact with Max has said he is a next level animal. Talk around the gym is that his level of wrestling and grappling could rival Khabib already… That says a lot when you consider the gyms Max trains out of (Xtreme couture and Zenith).”
Titan FC 59 fight card:
Main Card:
Michael Graves (8-1-2) (champion) vs. Yuri Villefort (12-7) for Titan FC welterweight title
Max Rohskopf (4-0) vs. Paulo Silva Bello (6-5) – lightweight bout
Roman Faraldo (2-0) vs. Kendley St. Louis (2-2) – heavyweight bout
Said Sowma (3-1) vs. Jermayne Barnes (3-2) heavyweight bout
Desmond Moore (6-4) vs. Cleveland McLean (11-8) – flyweight bout
Bruce Lutchmedial (6-3) vs. Geralbert Castillo (4-1) – featherweight bout
Preliminary Card:
Josh DaSilveria (1-0) vs. Jarrod Thomas (0-1) – light heavyweight
Miles Amos (2-0) vs. Garrick James (5-3) – middleweight
Allan St. Gelais (0-0) vs. Chris Minor (1-0) – middlweight
To sign up for UFC FIGHT PASS, please visit www.ufcfightpass.com
ABOUT TITAN FC:
Titan FC is dedicated to establishing itself as a marquee MMA promotion for both up-and-coming and veteran fighters. The promotion established a #FansFightersFirst creed towards providing fans with great, action-packed fights and fighters an opportunity to showcase their skills on a competitive platform. In June of 2015, Titan FC partnered with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) to showcase past, present and future Titan FC events on the UFC’s digital streaming network, UFC Fight Pass. In doing so, Titan FC is now available to mixed martial arts fans across the globe in over a 150 countries.
About UFC FIGHT PASS®
UFC FIGHT PASS® is the world’s leading digital subscription service for combat sports. Since launching in 2013, FIGHT PASS is now available in more than 200 countries and territories. FIGHT PASS provides its members with unlimited access to live UFC FIGHT PASS Prelims; live mixed martial arts and combat sports from around the world; original series and historical programming; special features; behind-the-scenes content; in-depth interviews; and up-to-the minute reports on the world of combat sports. FIGHT PASS subscribers also have 24/7 access to the world’s largest fight library, featuring more than 17,000 bouts from dozens of combats sports organizations, as well as every fight in UFC history. Fight fans can access FIGHT PASS on personal computers, iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, and Sony TVs with Android TV. For more information, please visit https://www.ufcfightpass.com.
