Leadfeather Retains Title At Titan FC 55

by Matt Benoliel

June 28, 2019.

Xtreme Action Park, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Titan FC Flyweight Champ Juan “Leadfeather” Puerta (17-6) fought an all-out bloody war against challenger Claudio Ledesma (16-7) this evening, winning a majority decision on the judge’s scorecards and the honor of taking his strap home with him at the end of the night.

Puerta controlled the action most of the fight, but the slippery conditions caused by an ample mix of his opponent’s blood, courtesy of a nasty above-the-eye cut, and the accumulated sweat of both combatants, prevented the champ from locking down a submission. There were fleeting moments, particularly in the fourth round, when the challenger gained the upper hand, but Puerta was consistently able to secure a dominant position.

The co-main event featured a featherweight contest between the 19-year old Chase “The Teenage Dream” Hooper and Luis Gomez (7-4). The fight went to the ground in the opening seconds, where Hooper had the clear advantage. At 6’1″, Hooper used his long limbs and superior grappling skills to finish the fight via rear-naked choke at 3:31 of the first round.

The Fighting news was fortunate enough to speak with Hooper at yesterday’s weigh-ins and we were impressed by his confidence and demeanor. Breaking his weight-cut with a bag of peanut M&M’s, while calmly discussing his future plans, combined with his impressive record and decisive win this evening, the undefeated prospect convinced us that he is a fighter to keep an eye on.

In another memorable battle, Irwin “The Beast” Rivera (8-4) claimed the vacant Titan FC bantamweight title with a victory over Matt “Hammer Time” Wagy (13-6). Both men showed considerable grit throughout the bout. In round four, Rivera caught Wagy with a vicious liver kick and the fight was officially called at 4 minutes 18 seconds.

In the shortest fight of the night, another humble but fierce competitor, Bruno Oliveira, fighting out of American Top Team but hailing from Brazil, took a victory over Jared Gooden with some solid striking in just 53 seconds into round one.

Jeremy Holloway and Timothy Teves both won split decisions over their respective opponents, Marc Stevens and Caio Uruguai in the opening bouts of the night.

Ireland’s Dean “The Sniper” Barry took on Titan FC veteran Corey Samuels in an exciting lightweight bout that barely saw one complete round of action. In our pre-fight interview, Barry promised to deliver a show with some fireworks and he delivered, ending the fight with two extraordinary side kicks to the head of Samuels that were reminiscent of Bruce Lee in his prime.

Titan COO Lex McMahon personified his #fansfightersfirst by personally tending to the fighters inside the cage following each fight. McMahon also conducted a short tribute to bring awareness to PTSD and to honor his friend Cpl. Jimmy Chapell.