If you were to do a quick scan of an MMA pound-for-pound ranking, you’d find the usual suspects at the top- fighters like Anderson Silva and BJ Penn. However, when you got half way down the list, you might find yourself an unrecognizable name. At a sinewy 135lbs, the name & fighter, Miguel Torres has gone mostly unnoticed in the world of mixed martial arts.
This year has changed all of that – Miguel has rightfully started to emerge as a breakout star.
Torres was born January 18, 1981 in the small town of East Chicago, Indiana. He is a Mexican American mixed martial artist, who specializes in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and possesses very potent Muay Thai striking. In September 2008 Torres received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from Carlson Gracie, Jr.
Judging by his unyielding record and sturdy Mexican name, one might think Miguel was a successful boxer. But Torres has taken the “fighting road” less traveled out of East Chicago.
While Torres has been serving up losses to his foes since 2000, mainstream fans are just now starting to take notice. With WEC 37 right around the corner, MMA’s smallest superstar, and the WEC’s current bantamweight champion, is ready for stardom. Along with Urijah Faber, the WEC is banking on this one-loss fighter to take the WEC forward in 2009.
At WEC 37, Torres will face his toughest competitor to date, in fellow chicano Manny Tapia. Tapia is an undefeated fighter who also trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Looking at submissions alone, one can easily distinguish the discrepancy in BJJ prowess. Torres has 20 submission wins to Tapia’s two. Torres will also have a decided height advantage- 5’9 and 5’5 respectively.
Assuming Torres wins, one has to wonder what the future holds for this uber talented fighter. Miguel turns twenty-eight in January, so he looks to be in the prime of his career. While a victory over Tapia would certainly reinforce his status as “top dog” of the ever evolving bantamweight division, it seems like the WEC will want to capitalize on his 34-1 record, along with the other marketable aspects of his game.
His likely next opponent will be the winner between a surging Brian Bowles and Brazilian banger Will Ribeiro, who fight on the same card. But neither of these fights will launch Torres’s status into the atmosphere. Enter Urijah Faber; the WEC’s other star who, despite his recent loss to Mike Brown, is still a very marketable and dangerous fighter.
A rivalry between these two stars could do for the lighter weight divisions what the rivalry between Couture and Liddell did for the meteoric growth of the UFC. Torres commented on the potential matchup in recent interview with Five Ounces of Pain:
“I know me and Faber are going to fight in the future, it’s going to have to happen. The people would love to see it. I would love to do it. I know that he would too. It’s just a matter of the motivation of the paycheck. The WEC has the two best fighters at 135 and 145. They’re not going to want to put a superfight together for a while. They’re going to let me dominate my weight class and let (Faber) do his thing.”
In boxing, people tend to gravitate toward the heavier weight classes for its display of punching power and to mid-range divisions for its combination of speed and striking. The smaller divisions, like bantamweight, tend to get overlooked- at least in the United States.
Perhaps, in mixed martial arts, there might be an exception. The combination of diverse fighting modalities in the sport make the fights at smaller divisions just as exciting as the bigger ones, if not more so. That is especially the case when you have fighters like Torres and Faber present.
There is one thing that casual fans of Torres may not realize about his stellar 34-1 record. While Torres built his astounding record starting with fights on local shows in the Midwest more than 10 years ago, his record is even more remarkable when you learn that Torres owns another 12 unaccounted-for victories. Torres claims his record stands at 46-1.
“I started fighting way before there were databases,” Torres said. “When I first started fighting, I was getting out of high school going into my first year of college. I was working at a grocery store as a store manager. … There were these events that they had. They were in bars. You had to be 21 to compete. If you were 18, you had to get consent from your folks.”
His “folks” finally relented and the rest has been recorded – at least most of his fights that is. To read more about Torres’s “fight road” less traveled click here (after finishing the article of course).
So on December 3rd, when Torres defends his WEC bantamweight title for a third time, you should be tuned in to the VERSUS channel. Contact your cable company to find out if you have the channel – it will clearly be worth your time.
There is nothing better then free MMA, especially when you get the chance to see a fighter like Miguel Torres do what he seems born to do.
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Brian Oswald is a a new staff writer for Inside Fights. He was been watching the UFC since his high school days, when he saw Randy Couture defeated Vitor Belfort. He has been a passionate observer of MMA ever since.
