Tag: Miguel Torres

UFC 139 Results: Miguel Torres Is Now a Top 5 Bantamweight

It has been a topsy-turvy past few years for former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, but his victory over Nick Pace last night at UFC 139 may have finally put his career back on track. It was only just over two years ago when Torres was once …

It has been a topsy-turvy past few years for former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, but his victory over Nick Pace last night at UFC 139 may have finally put his career back on track.

It was only just over two years ago when Torres was once considered not only the unquestioned best 135-pound fighter in the world, but was also a consensus top five pound-for-pound fighter.

Torres rode an unbelievable, Fedor Emelianenko-like 17-fight winning streak into his Aug. 2009 battle against Brian Bowles at WEC 42. But it was on that night that the his historic run came to an end.

One punch from Bowles sent Torres tumbling back into reality as he was knocked out by the challenger in one of the most shocking losses of the year.

Torres would go on to lose his next fight to Joseph Benavidez, submitting to a guillotine choke at WEC 47. The tumble down the rankings had officially begun.

Though he got back in the win column in back-to-back fights against Charlie Valencia and Antonio Banuelos in his UFC debut, the level of competition was just not as good as what he had been competing against in his losses. But even worse, he did not look like the dominant former champion that we remembered from years past.

But last night at UFC 139, the real Miguel Torres was back. He showed some of the precision on the feet and incredible jiu-jitsu that helped make him one of the best in the world. Not only that, but he did it against an opponent who essentially opted not to cut weight and weighed in six pounds over the 135-pound limit.

He still has a fight or two to go before he can realistically be considered for a shot at the UFC bantamweight title, but a top-five ranking is well within reason.

The crazy thing about Miguel Torres is that despite competing in his 43rd professional MMA fight last night, the best may still be best to come. Just 30-years-old, he is still learning and improving his game every day.

If he is able to regain the confidence he once had, Dominick Cruz may have something to worry about at 135. 

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UFC 139 Results: Miguel Torres’ New Style Is Serving Him Well

Former WEC Bantamweight king, Miguel Angel Torres showed us a different style of fighting than what we are used to seeing from his days ruling the division in WEC.Speaking of his title days, it’s sort of funny that the UFC chose the “six former champio…

Former WEC Bantamweight king, Miguel Angel Torres showed us a different style of fighting than what we are used to seeing from his days ruling the division in WEC.

Speaking of his title days, it’s sort of funny that the UFC chose the “six former champions, six quests to regain gold” moniker but chose to exclude Miguel Torres.

Let’s see, Dan Henderson won two belts in Pride and another in Strikeforce, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua held a belt in the UFC, Wanderlei Silva won a belt in Pride (along with many other accomplishments), Urijah Faber won a belt in WEC, Brian Bowles briefly held a belt in WEC (Ironically with a knockout win over Miguel Torres), and Cung Le held a belt in Strikeforce.  

If my math is correct, that totals six former champions. So why did they choose to exclude Torres?

Perhaps it’s because he wasn’t facing another former champion as the others were, I can understand that. Or maybe it was because he wasn’t on the main card, I can understand that also. But to not even mention it when you mention everybody else’s titles no matter how brief they were?

That wasn’t the coolest thing they’ve done.

However, in spite of the lack of recognition, Miguel Torres took care of business against Nick Pace in a tactical display of striking and octagon control. Long gone are the brawling days of Miguel Torres from East Chicago. Welcome the new George St. Pierre’-esque days of cerebral game plans to pick apart his opponent.  

Torres actually trained with Firas Zihabi in preparation for this fight, so he got some of the same viewpoints that GSP gets for his fights.

The new style isn’t as exciting as the previous style, but it doesn’t put Miguel in the same positions he often found himself when brawling. Torres will look to ride this new style into a potential title shot in the near future.

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Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the November 19 fight card, including results and post-fight analysis.  

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Miguel Torres Was ‘Very Upset’ With Nick Pace Before Fight

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SAN JOSE, Calif. – MMA Fighting caught up with Miguel Torres after his unanimous decision win over Nick Pace at UFC 139. Torres discussed why he didn’t finish Pace, if old Miguel will return in the near future, Pace’s inability to make weight Friday, his emotions heading into the fight and much more.

 

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SAN JOSE, Calif. – MMA Fighting caught up with Miguel Torres after his unanimous decision win over Nick Pace at UFC 139. Torres discussed why he didn’t finish Pace, if old Miguel will return in the near future, Pace’s inability to make weight Friday, his emotions heading into the fight and much more.

 

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UFC 139 Undercard Live Blog: Lawlor vs. Weidman, Dos Anjos vs. Tibau, More

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Tom Lawlor faces Chris Weidman at UFC 139.SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for all the Facebook preliminary bouts on tonight’s event at the HP Pavilion.

The five bouts on the undercard are Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman, Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau, Miguel Torres vs. Nick Pace, Seth Baczynski vs. Matt Brown and Shamar Bailey vs. Danny Castillo.

The live blog for all five bouts is below.


Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman

Round 1:

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau

Round 1:

Miguel Torres vs. Nick Pace

Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal gives the signal and we’re underway. Pace looks to land a looping hook when Torres comes in, and he finally sticks it after several attempts. “You got his attention, Nick,” says his corner. Torres jabs him back and lands a nice straight right. Leg kick by Torres buckles Pace. Torres lands the straight right again, and Pace comes in swinging before looking for the takedown. Torres defends well with his back on the fence, working short elbows and punches. Pace seems to be holding and hoping here. Torres uses a kimura to flip Pace onto his back, then they scramble up. Pace is bleeding out of his mouth. They trade right hands in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Torres.

Seth Baczynski vs. Matt Brown

Round 1: Brown paws his way forward behind a jab and Baczynski comes over the top with a right. That gave him something to think about. Baczynski looks for a takedown, but settles for a clinch against the fence. Nice elbow by Baczynski in close. Baczynski steps back and launches a punch combo, but Brown does a pretty decent job of bobbing and weaving. Baczynski closes the distance again and scoops Brown up for a takedown. Baczynski looks to strike from the top, but Brown pulls off a nifty little sweep and gets to his feet. He lets Baczynski up shortly thereafter, and they exchange blows on the feet with Baczynski landing a pretty left hook counter before looking for the clinch again. Knee to the body by Baczynski, and Brown makes the ‘that was my testicles’ face. The ref encourages Baczynski to not do that anymore. They end the round with Baczynski tentatively looking for a standing guillotine. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Baczynski.

Round 2: Brown looks to start faster in the second frame. He gets busy with strikes right off the bat, then shoots and secures a takedown of his own. Baczynski grabs for a guillotine on the way down, and Brown seems perhaps not as concerned with defending against it as he should be. Baczynski adjusts and squeezes with everything he’s got, and Brown is forced to tap.

Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round two

Shamar Bailey vs. Danny Castillo

Round 1: Castillo goes to work with kicks to the legs and body early, but promptly slips and ends up on his butt. Bailey rushes in and gets himself taken down, though he’s back up quickly. Castillo lifts him up and slams him back down, then does it again when Bailey rises again a few seconds later. Castillo working from half-guard, but he’s hesitant to give Bailey the space to escape and so his striking from the top is limited. Castillo sits back and gets a few consecutive blows in. The crowd digs it, sparse though it is this early on. He pounds away at Bailey with hammer fists, and Bailey seems to be losing steam. Castill takes mount briefly, but can’t stay there. Castillo goes back to the hammer fists from half-guard and Bailey seems to be folding up. Less than ten seconds left in the round, but Bailey is just covering up and hoping to be saved by the bell. The ref isn’t going to let him do that for long, and this one is over.

Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) at 4:52 of round one

In his post-fight interview, Castillo tells Joe Rogan he felt “disrespected” by Bailey showing up at 138 for Friday’s weigh-ins. Bailey paid for that oversight with 20 percent of his purse, and now he has a loss on top of it.

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Tom Lawlor faces Chris Weidman at UFC 139.SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for all the Facebook preliminary bouts on tonight’s event at the HP Pavilion.

The five bouts on the undercard are Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman, Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau, Miguel Torres vs. Nick Pace, Seth Baczynski vs. Matt Brown and Shamar Bailey vs. Danny Castillo.

The live blog for all five bouts is below.


Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman

Round 1:

Rafael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau

Round 1:

Miguel Torres vs. Nick Pace

Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal gives the signal and we’re underway. Pace looks to land a looping hook when Torres comes in, and he finally sticks it after several attempts. “You got his attention, Nick,” says his corner. Torres jabs him back and lands a nice straight right. Leg kick by Torres buckles Pace. Torres lands the straight right again, and Pace comes in swinging before looking for the takedown. Torres defends well with his back on the fence, working short elbows and punches. Pace seems to be holding and hoping here. Torres uses a kimura to flip Pace onto his back, then they scramble up. Pace is bleeding out of his mouth. They trade right hands in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Torres.

Seth Baczynski vs. Matt Brown

Round 1: Brown paws his way forward behind a jab and Baczynski comes over the top with a right. That gave him something to think about. Baczynski looks for a takedown, but settles for a clinch against the fence. Nice elbow by Baczynski in close. Baczynski steps back and launches a punch combo, but Brown does a pretty decent job of bobbing and weaving. Baczynski closes the distance again and scoops Brown up for a takedown. Baczynski looks to strike from the top, but Brown pulls off a nifty little sweep and gets to his feet. He lets Baczynski up shortly thereafter, and they exchange blows on the feet with Baczynski landing a pretty left hook counter before looking for the clinch again. Knee to the body by Baczynski, and Brown makes the ‘that was my testicles’ face. The ref encourages Baczynski to not do that anymore. They end the round with Baczynski tentatively looking for a standing guillotine. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Baczynski.

Round 2: Brown looks to start faster in the second frame. He gets busy with strikes right off the bat, then shoots and secures a takedown of his own. Baczynski grabs for a guillotine on the way down, and Brown seems perhaps not as concerned with defending against it as he should be. Baczynski adjusts and squeezes with everything he’s got, and Brown is forced to tap.

Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round two

Shamar Bailey vs. Danny Castillo

Round 1: Castillo goes to work with kicks to the legs and body early, but promptly slips and ends up on his butt. Bailey rushes in and gets himself taken down, though he’s back up quickly. Castillo lifts him up and slams him back down, then does it again when Bailey rises again a few seconds later. Castillo working from half-guard, but he’s hesitant to give Bailey the space to escape and so his striking from the top is limited. Castillo sits back and gets a few consecutive blows in. The crowd digs it, sparse though it is this early on. He pounds away at Bailey with hammer fists, and Bailey seems to be losing steam. Castill takes mount briefly, but can’t stay there. Castillo goes back to the hammer fists from half-guard and Bailey seems to be folding up. Less than ten seconds left in the round, but Bailey is just covering up and hoping to be saved by the bell. The ref isn’t going to let him do that for long, and this one is over.

Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) at 4:52 of round one

In his post-fight interview, Castillo tells Joe Rogan he felt “disrespected” by Bailey showing up at 138 for Friday’s weigh-ins. Bailey paid for that oversight with 20 percent of his purse, and now he has a loss on top of it.

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Fighter vs. Writer: UFC 139 Picks with Miguel Torres

Filed under: UFCThe peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked Brendan Schaub with my UFC 137 predictions, though he didn’t exactly help…

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Miguel TorresThe peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked Brendan Schaub with my UFC 137 predictions, though he didn’t exactly help himself out by refusing to pick a winner in the Roy Nelson-Cro Cop fight.

This time around, I visited one of UFC 139‘s prelim fighters to get his thoughts on his colleagues on the main card. Dear readers, I give you former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, who now has two fights on his hands for Saturday night. And unlike Nick Pace, my weight is right where it’s supposed to be.

Let’s do this, Miguel.

Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Torres: Rua via KO. “I love Henderson, love his style, I’ve seen a lot of his fights like. But I’ve been watching Shogun since the Pride days. Every time somebody kicks I scream because of him. So I have to go with Shogun. Somebody’s getting knocked out.”
Fowlkes: Henderson via KO. If he gets past the first round without being swarmed by Rua, I think he makes it a nasty, messy fight, wearing Rua down until he can put him away with that big right hand of his.

More Coverage: UFC 139 Results

Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le

Torres: Le via KO. “I love Wanderlei, too. He’s another one of those guys I’ve watched for a long time. My heart says Wanderlei, but my mind says Cung Le. Cung Le’s knocked out a lot of his opponents, and Wanderlei’s been knocked out a lot lately. But I hope I’m wrong.”
Fowlkes: Le via KO. Silva’s power always gives him a decent chance in any fight, but it’s true, his chin ain’t what it used to be. Le can use those kicks to keep him at a distance and look for opening, and Silva probably won’t be able to get close enough to do much damage.

Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles

Torres: Faber via decision. “Bowles has broken his hand two or three times already, so it depends how healthy his hand is, and his mind. I know he hits hard, but if he gets a punch in and hurts his hand, it will kill his confidence. So I think Urijah takes it.”
Fowlkes: Faber via decision. I still think that, the odds being what they are, Bowles isn’t a bad underdog pick, but Faber’s a tough match-up for anybody in the bantamweight division. He has an impressive ability to figure an opponent out over the course of a fight, and he only gets stronger in the later rounds.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury

Torres: Bonnar via decision. “I’m going with Stephan. Stephan’s my boy, so I can’t go against him. He could be fighting Brock [Lesnar], and I’m still going to pick Stephan. Stephan’s a grinder, though. He’ll grind him out.”
Fowlkes: Kingsbury via decision. I have no such loyalty to Mr. Bonnar, and I think Kingsbury is underrated these days. He’s gotten a lot better in a very short time, and he could surprise a few people here, Miguel included.

Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story

Torres: Kampmann via TKO. “That’s a close one, but I like Kampmann. I like his style. He’s tough, and I think he takes it. That’s a fight where they’re going to go at it, and somebody’s getting finished.”
Fowlkes: Kampmann via decision. I don’t know if I can see this one ending inside the distance, and I agree that it’ll be a tight one, but I think Kampmann is a just a little bit better and a tad more well-rounded. In a fight this close, that could be all it takes.

Torres picks: Rua, Le, Faber, Bonnar, Kampmann
Fowlkes picks: Henderson, Le, Faber, Kingsbury, Kampmann

 

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8 Roles That Fighters Play to Entertain Us

“The Stoic Russian” is a hurtful stereotype, so we didn’t include it. The more you know…..

People complain about “pro-wrestling bullshit” invading MMA, but it’s been demonstrated over and over again: personality will get you places in the fight game. We’ve pointed this out before, like when we advised Jon Fitch on how to ensure a title shot. Some fighters are talked about incessantly on forums, at lunch tables, and in interviews because they’ve managed to capture the interest of fans, and many times it is because of things that they have done or said while not in the cage.

Come on in and let’s talk about archetypes, drama, and personality. Because there’s only so many technique videos out there.

“The Stoic Russian” is a hurtful stereotype, so we didn’t include it.  The more you know…..

People complain about “pro-wrestling bullshit” invading MMA, but it’s been demonstrated over and over again: personality will get you places in the fight game.  We’ve pointed this out before, like when we advised Jon Fitch on how to ensure a title shot.  Some fighters are talked about incessantly on forums, at lunch tables, and in interviews because they’ve managed to capture the interest of fans, and many times it is because of things that they have done or said while not in the cage.

Come on in and let’s talk about archetypes, drama, and personality.  Because there’s only so many technique videos out there.

Tank Abbott, Tito Ortiz, So Very Many Others: “The Bad Boy”

When Ortiz began calling himself “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, Tank was all like, “I ain’t dead yet.”

Tito Ortiz pioneered the role of the heel in the UFC, and helped carry the company through lean times with outstanding promotional work, including a long-standing feud with Ken Shamrock‘s Lion’s Den that was better than anything being scripted in the WWE.  Then Tito went about as full-on “bad boy” as it gets, by wifing a porn star.  Sure, it takes a tough guy to be a champ in the UFC, but sticking your tongue in that particular holiest of holies?  That’s some next-level bad boy shit, right there.

Note:  It’s popular for fighters to project the bad boy image, but it’s a tough road to walk. James Irvin got himself a bad boy tattoo, and things really haven’t gone well for him.  Something to keep in mind.

Josh Koscheck, Michael Bisping, et al: The Asshole

 

Note here the difference between “Asshole” and “Heel”. A heel is a dastardly, evil person who hates fans, and basks in the uneven glow of insults and epithets he encounters whenever he performs. An asshole brings Bud Light to a party, snags a Heineken from the fridge, and asks if your sister is DTF … but then he acts offended if anyone acts offended.

Kos and Bisping genuinely believe that they are good guys, and neither of them understand why everyone has such a goddamn problem with them. (See: any episode of TUF in which they appear.)  A true asshole is mystified when faced with others’ distate of his assholishness.

I’ll just leave this right here…

“Don’t look at the camera, ‘Page, it makes you look like an asshole.”

Miguel Torres, Tom Lawlor, Jason Miller, et al: The Jester

You’re just jealous because you can’t play dress-up at your job.

Generally active via social media, these jokers engage in various styles of goofiness. Jesters tend to be fond of elaborate fight entrances entrances, featuring choreography, extras, props, and/or elaborate costumes. (Forrest Griffin should get a mention here too, since he was a pretty funny guy until he was perpetually crabby.)

For maximum hilarity, combine “The Jester” with “The Asshole” and agitate.