Homogeneous titanium matrix composites (TMCs), despite their unique microstructure and properties, often exhibit inadequate impact resistance. To overcome this limitation, this study presents a high-energy-absorbing and impact-resistant TMC by incorporating a dual design strategy: a porous surface layer and a functionally graded internal structure. A Ti6Al4V/TiC graded material, consisting of one porous titanium surface layer and five gradient layers, was fabricated using the ZrO₂ hollow sphere placeholder method combined with hot pressing sintering. The porous titanium layer exhibited a porosity of 40%, while each of the five gradient layers achieved a relative density of 98.8%. Moving from the bottom layer towards the porous surface, the TiC content was systematically increased from 0 to 8%, and the TiC particle size was enlarged from 3-5 μm to 15-53 μm. The microstructure and properties of the fabricated material were comprehensively characterized. The gradient layers were metallurgically bonded, ensuring structural integrity. The matrix microstructure comprised lamellar α-Ti and β-Ti phases, with TiC particles predominantly distributed along prior β-Ti grain boundaries. The identified strengthening mechanisms included grain refinement, dislocation strengthening, and dispersion strengthening. Compared with the monolithic Ti6Al4V layer, the incorporation of TiC particles effectively refined the prior β-Ti grains along with the α-Ti and β-Ti phases. The gradient layer containing 8%TiC particles (15-53 μm) achieved the highest hardness. In contrast, the layers containing 4% and 6%TiC particles (3-5 μm) demonstrated enhanced tensile strength and toughness. Notably, the layer with 4%TiC showed superior toughness, while the layer with 6%TiC achieved the maximum tensile strength. Compression tests revealed that the porous titanium surface layer possessed remarkable energy absorption capacity, undergoing progressive collapse deformation under relatively low compressive loads before reaching densification. The Ti6Al4V/TiC functionally graded material with a porous surface effectively enhanced protective performance through a synergistic mechanism: the highly energy-absorbing porous surface mitigated initial impact forces, the high-hardness impact-facing layers provided superior penetration resistance, and the high-strength, high-toughness backing layers contributed to excellent residual load-bearing capacity and overall impact resistance.