Following Titan FC 29 in August, all signs pointed to Kurt Holobaugh being one of the two fighters being placed into the vacant Titan FC featherweight title bout.
At Titan FC 29, Holobaugh (13-2) only needed 15 seconds to defeat Lloyd Woodard and it was his four straight victory since being released by the UFC.
However, Holobaugh would not be one of the two fighters in the vacant featherweight title fight in December as an injury forced him out of the fight. It was a tough time for Holobaugh as he was unable to train but he admitted that the time off allowed him to be be around his family.
“I just spent a lot of time with my kids and had a lot of family time,” Holobaugh told The MMA Report. “It was actually a chance to take a little break from fighting and training. Focus on them a lot and do a lot of fun stuff with them.”
Being away from the sport did offer motivation for Holobaugh and it lit a fire under him. He will now meet featherweight champion Desmond Green at Titan FC 33 in March at Mobile AeroFest. Green won the vacant title in Decemeber when he defeated Steve Siler and the fight went the way Holobaugh thought it would go.
“I thought it was a good fight and I thought both guys really came out to fight,” he said. “Desmond Green did a good job of controlling where the fight went. I know both guys are tough and I have been in the ring with Siler. I figured Desmond Green would just kind of out wrestle him to a five round decision.”
If Siler would have walked away with the victory, it would have set up a rematch between them. Back at UFC 159 in 2013, Siler defeated Holobaugh by decision and following that fight, Holobaugh was released by the promotion. While he felt Green would likely get the victory, was he hoping for Siler to get the victory?
“There was a little part of me that did want Siler to win,” he said. “Not just because he has beaten me in the past, I thought that it would have made a really good fight for Titan because I knew I was the number one contender. I should have gotten a title shot, so I figured a UFC 159 rematch of the Titan featherweight championship sounded really good.”
With the fight less than two months away, Holobaugh is currently in the gym working on ways how he will defeat Green to become the Titan FC champion. In breaking down Green’s abilities, Holobaugh pointed out one of the strengths he knows about his upcoming opponent.
“You know what he really does well is when he gets ahold of you, it’s hard to get him off of you. Kind of what he did against Siler against the fence, it wasn’t really a bad position for Siler but Desmond Green just had his ways against the fence. There was really not much Siler could do. I just have to keep Green from holding me.”
A victory over Green would be a statement type victory for Holobaugh and could potentially get a call from the UFC. Holobaugh had a brief taste of what it was like to be a UFC fighter in 2013 and obviously he has unfinished business, but he also has a message for UFC President Dana White.
“I have a lot of unfinished business in the UFC. Dana White still owes me a bonus and I am coming to get it. One day, I will be back to get that bonus.”