Santiago vs. Silva headlines 'Titan Fighting 23: Fight for the Troops'

Middleweights Jorge Santiago (24-10) and Jay Silva (8-6) have been tapped headliners for next month's "Titan Fighting Championship 23: Fight for the Troops" event.

Officials announced the event on Monday.

The show takes place June 15 at Marshall Army Airfield on Fort Riley, Kan. The main card airs on HDNet.

Officials didn't specify exactly how the event will benefit any military charities. However, general-admission tickets cost $30 and are available to both military personnel and civilians.

"We have wanted to stage a Titan Fighting Championship 'Fight for the Troops' event for years, and so we are pleased that the officials at Fort Riley have made their historic Marshall Army Airfield available for this first-ever night of fights dedicated to our nation's soldiers," TFC president Joe Kelly stated. "It is an honor to give back to our troops, and I speak for everyone who is involved with Titan when I say this is definitely our proudest moment yet."

Santiago recently signed with Titan and scored a first-round knockout of Leonardo Pecanha at Titan Fighting 21 in March. That followed an unsuccessful return to the UFC, where he went 0-2 with losses to Brian Stann and Demian Maia. Santiago, a former World Victory Road/Sengoku champion, had earned a ticket back into the UFC following an 11-1 run from 2007 to 2010.

Silva, a fellow UFC vet, fought this past weekend and suffered a majority-decision loss to Michal Materla at KSW 19 in Poland. Prior to the defeat, Silva was on a 3-1 run that included a Super Cage Combat 4 submission victory over Kendall Grove earlier this year.

Other bouts slated for the card include Army Captain and two-time All-Army Combatives Tournament Champion Brandon Bear (3-0) vs. fellow middleweight Nick Budig (5-2), as well as local lightweights Jake Lindsey (4-0) vs. Jordan Johnson (6-2) and light heavyweights Gregg Van De Creek (0-0) vs. Waymon Carter (1-1).

Santiago should win but with the chins of these two you never know.

on HDNet this week.