Miguel Torres

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 WEC Career
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Miguel Torres (born January 18, 1981) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist and a Carlson Gracie Jr. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.

He stands 5 ft. 10 in. (178cm) and fights in the bantamweight division (135 lbs.). He currently fights for and is the 135 lbs. champion for the World Extreme Cagefighting organization.

Early Career

According to the records, Miguel Torres made his professional mixed martial arts debut for Finkle's Full Contact Challenge (FFCC) on March 27, 2000. He defeated Larry Pulliam via TKO at .10 of round 1.

Torres' next four fights all took place in the FFCC where he racked up four first first round victories with both strikes and submissions.

Torres fought and was victorious four more times in 2000, with three of those victories coming in the one night at an Extreme Shootfighting 8 man tournmanet. Torres defeated Chad Bratton via decision to take the tournament.

Torres amassed an undefeated record of 9-0 at the end of 2000 and pushed that record to 16-0 at the end of 2001.

2002 was a relatively quiet year with only three fights. Two of which came by a one night four man tournament which Torres emerged victorious from.

Torres fought just the once in 2003 against Ryan Ackerman (10-4-1). Torres suffered his first professional loss against Ackerman, losing a unanimous decision after three rounds.

Torres bounced back from his first professional defeat with a third round TKO over Mustafa Hussaini seven months later.

After racking up another four wins, Torres was given the chance to avenge his lone professional loss against Ackerman. Almost two years to the day since he lost the decision, Torres avenged the defeat with an arm bar submission 4.45 into the first round.

2006 was another flawless year for Torres as he went 4-0 in a variety of smaller shows, finishing all of his opponents before the third round.

WEC Career

After two more victories in 2007 pushed Torres' record to 32-1 and 12 straight victories, Torres finally signed a contract with a top flight promotion in the shape of the World Extreme Cagefighting organization.

He made his debut at WEC 30 against Jeff Bedard in the bantamweight division. Torres made little work of Bedard, securing a triangle choke 2.30 into round 1.

With the Bedard victory and stellar record under his belt, Torres was awarded a shot at the WEC bantamweight title, which was held by Chase Beebe. Although Torres was the favourite going into the fight, the speed and technique that he showed shocked many as Torres was all over Beebe for four and a half minutes before securing the fight ending guillotine choke to claim the 135 lbs. title.

Torres returned at WEC 34, in June of 2008, to defend his title against Japanese fighter, Yoshiro Maeda. In a fight of the year candidate, both fighters participated in fast and furious exchanges both standing and on the ground. Torres' class began to show through in the third round as he began to land continously on Maeda with combinations that were taking a toll on his opponent's face. At the end of the third round, the doctor ruled that Maeda's eyes were too swollen to continue and Torres was awarded the third round TKO stoppage victory.

At WEC 37, Torres defended his title for a second time when he destroyed the man he was supposed to face at WEC 34, Manny Tapia. Torres outstruck the striker, knocking him down multiple times and eventually out in the first round.

Scheduled to defend his title against Brian Bowles at WEC 40, Torres instead faced off against Shooto veteran, Tatsuya Mizugaki after Bowles withdrew due to injury. In an early fight of the year candidate, both fighters slugged it out for five rounds, with Torres finally coming out on top via unanimous decision after five rounds.