Following his defeat to Daniel Weichel in the Bellator Season Ten Tournament Final, Desmond Green was released from his promotional contract and became a free agent.
Green (13-3) would not remain a free agent for long as Titan FC signed him to a multi-fight contract and he made a statement in his promotional debut last night as he stopped former WEC champion Miguel Torres in 46-seconds.
Prior to the fight on Friday, Green told The MMA Report that his release was a blessing in disguise as it opened up new doors for him including his move to Montreal to train at Tri-Star.
“It’s definitely the next chapter in my career,” Green said. “Definitely a blessing in disguise. I was real happy when I first got to Bellator, the tournament, I made it to the final, and I though I was going to be back. Out of nowhere, I got released. I was frustrated but doors just started opening up with Jeff [Aronson], Titan, and now I am with Alchemist, training at Tri-Star. Everything happens for a reason.”
Heading into Friday night, the question was how would Green look after sending the last five weeks at Tri-Star? Would he still be the same type of fighter that we all saw in Bellator or would this be Desmond Green 2.0? As someone who has seen Green fight in person before, I could see this was a different fighter from the moment he stepped into the cage.
In Bellator, he was labeled as a fighter that wins by decision and may not be the most exciting fighter. That label went away Friday night at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida as he showed off his new tools as he stopped Torres with strikes. It all started with a knee against the fence and he landed multiple strikes on the mat before the referee came in to stop the fight.
Everyone that was in attendance was blown away with the performance, including Titan FC CEO Jeff Aronson.
“Dez just did tonight what I don’t think anyone in the world expected Desmond Green to do,” Aronson said. “He put a beating on Miguel Torres in a fashion that was so devastating that if you would have asked me before tonight and he all have had this conversation numerous times. I told you I was expecting a three round war, fight of the night. He came out and they talk about make you remember them, what he did tonight, there is no one on Twitter. I was reading on MMA Underground, Sherdog, and all of the forums that is not calling for Dez Green to be a top ten featherweight right now.”
Back when Green was released, I stated that the release of Green may be the cut that Bellator President Scott Coker and matchmaker Rich Chou will regret. Was Green an exciting fighter in most peoples eyes while in Bellator? No he was not. However, Bellator released him to soon and Titan FC made a great signing. Green now has training partners and coaches to take him to the next level and if last night is an indication, Bellator is going to regret cutting Green for a long time.
For Green, he will now face Steven Siler for the promotions featherweight title and it may not be that long before Green joins the UFC. While Bellator is looking for top ten fighters for their promotion, they gave up on Green and they only have to blame themselves.
Maybe this will be a learning experience for them to not give up on a guy like Green in the future.