Not only is the vacant Titan FC lightweight title no longer up for grabs on Friday night, but now one of its participants is no longer with the promotion.
As was reported by Front Row Brian via his Twitter feed, longtime veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida withdrew from his main event title fight with Mike Ricci after a series of circumstances.
Titan FC’s Chief Operating Officer Lex McMahon both confirmed and explained the situation to MMA Fighting.
“Unfortunately, Yosiyuki Yoshida has withdrawn from his scheduled Titan FC 31 bout with Mike Ricci,” McMahon said. “Yesterday, Ricci failed to make weight by two pounds for his scheduled title fight with Yoshida and, as a result, both Ricci and Yoshida agreed to fight a three-round bout. Additionally, it was agreed that Ricci would pay 20% to Yoshida.
“Then this morning, hours before the bout, Yoshida informed Titan FC that he is now refusing to fight.
“Consequently, Yoshida’s promotional agreement with Titan FC has been terminated. Fortunately the Titan FC 31 card is stacked with amazing talent. Miguel Torres will now fight Desmond Green in the main event and Sirwan Kakai (10-2) vs. Joe Barajas (10-0) will move to the televised card and in a fantastic bantamweight bout.”
The Titan FC 31 main card will air on the CBS Sports Network starting at 10pm (EST).