By Neil Davidson
THE CANADIAN PRESS
With Urijah Faber dethroned as featherweight champion, the face of World Extreme Cagefighting is now arguably 135-pound buzzsaw Miguel Torres.
In the cage, it’s a face without a smile. Torres is all business when it comes to fighting. Get in his way at your peril.
The hard-nosed bantamweight title-holder does not seek out the mixed martial arts spotlight but he is ruthless when it falls on him. Torres is downright mean in the cage. Long and lean for a bantamweight at five foot nine, Torres is brimming with ways to hurt you.
Possessing punishing kicks, punches, knees and elbows — not to mention a black belt in jiu-jitsu — Torres comes fully equipped.
The 27-year-old from East Chicago, Ind., occupies centre stage Wednesday night as he faces Manny (The Mangler) Tapia in the main event of WEC 37 in Las Vegas. Torres (34-1) will attempt to use his four-inch height and accompanying reach advantage to dispatch the 5-5 Tapia (9-0-1).
The two were slated to meet in June but a knee injury to Tapia delayed the matchup. Instead Torres took on Yoshiro Maeda, a durable Japanese fighter who made the mistake of riling the champion by cutting him early on. Torres pounded away at the courageous Maeda until his right eye was closed and his face hideously swollen.
The fight was stopped, with Torres winning by TKO.
Torres has many other weapons in his arsenal, however. In his WEC debut in February, he fought off his back and caught Jeff Bedard in a triangle choke in two minutes 30 seconds. He won the title next time out, entering the cage to Mariachi music before submitting Chase Beebe in 3:59 after a slick jiu-jitsu transition that saw him lock on a guillotine choke and then roll on top of the champion, who was forced to tap.
Having fought — and beaten — much bigger men in his youth in amateur and unsanctioned fights, Torres is fearless. He is so good on the ground that he has no fear of being taken down when he kicks. So he kicks away.
He is also true to his roots, refusing to move from his blue-collar home town.
“I take it in strides. I don’t forget where I come from. I don’t forget who I am,” he explains.
Torres runs his own gym in nearby Hammond, putting on long hours training and teaching. He recently expanded the facility and says he already needs a further upgrade.
It keeps him away from his wife and 16-month-old daughter, but Torres reckons the short-term pain will be worth the long-term gain when he steps away from the sport some five years down the line after a profitable string of fights.
The champion’s stony face on the job conceals a cauldron of emotion as he enters the cage. Torres admits while he does not hear the fans during the walk in, he feels their support deep down.
“A lot of times it’s feels like I want to cry sometimes, just the emotion I feel walking out,” he told reporters during a conference call. “It’s a very empowering feeling. It’s very hard to describe. It’s almost like seeing your first child being born. It’s one of those things, where it’s addicting.”
And it is made even more powerful by a chip on his shoulder. Torres believes some still question his abilities. And he is eager to prove those doubters wrong.
He took up karate at a young age when the local community centre offered a month of free lessons. When his family could not afford more lessons, he took jobs to pay for them himself as a young teen. And he was hooked on jiu jitsu when he saw how it evened the playing field.
“I thought man that’s what I’ve got to learn’ because I was always the smallest guy in the gym.”
Still, Torres takes nothing for granted. Especially now that he is in vogue.
“You know what, I don’t really look for the spotlight too much,” Torres said. “A lot of people have been telling me it’s my turn to be the golden boy. I don’t look at it that way. In the fight game, anything can happen.”
In a sport with four-ounce gloves, one punch can end it all. Faber found that out against Mike Brown last month. Torres knows it could happen to him too.
Torres is an admirer of Faber, although he believes “the glamour of the sport” might have got to the former featherweight champion. But both he and Tapia believe Faber will soon be back winning. If that is the case, a high-profile matchup with Torres could be back on the cards.
But not if Tapia has his way.
“He’s a well-rounded fighter, he’s the world champ,” Tapia said of Torres. “And I’m going to try to take that away from him.”
NOTES — The next WEC card will be Jan. 25 at the San Diego Sports Arena with lightweight champion Jamie Varner taking on Donald Cerrone and former featherweight title-holder Urijah (The California Kid) Faber in a rematch with Jens (Lil’ Evil) Pulver. Faber won a unanimous decision when they met in June.
