Torres vs. Tapia tomorrow night! Live and free on Versus.

[Lucky7]

Alot of good fights...

Undercard I’m really looking forward to: Waggney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura: both newcomers to WEC, but Fabiano was one of the most dominant fighters from the International Fight League, with a 6-0 record there. His one career loss was to Jeff Curran in a split decision 2 years ago. If he wins this fight he’ll be one to watch in the WEC…especially that he’s in the 145 lb. weight class, along with Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, Leonard Garcia, Jose Aldo.
Tamura comes from Shooto, with a 12-6-2 record, and is considered Japan’s best fighter in his division. Watch this one if you can!

I hope this guy lives up to my expectations (and hype). I think the WEC has alot of fighters that have potential to bring more viewers to MMA. Fabiano is a Brazilian who's lived in Canada for a while, so he's very American-ized (or Canadian-ized?)

[Lucky7]

Torres/Gracie connection (from Sherdog):

The first time the late Carlson Gracie Sr. laid eyes on Miguel Torres at his Chicago academy, he asked, “Who’s the little Mexican kid?” Theirs was a union born out of pure coincidence.
“I didn’t even know who he was,” Torres says. “I got invited to his gym, but I didn’t go at first. When I started, I trained for about two or three weeks. Carlson wasn’t even there.”
Though separated by almost half a century in age, teacher and student formed a quick bond, as Torres developed and honed his Tasmanian Devil skills under Gracie’s nurturing wing. He was next in the long line of accomplished Gracie disciples, joining Murilo Bustamante, Mario Sperry, Andre Pederneiras and Ricardo Liborio.
“He was very important in my life,” Torres says. “Carlson built so many great fighters. I always believed I could do something big, and him believing in me had me believing it had to be true.”
Torres bears his teacher’s legacy proudly, and everyone associated with mixed martial arts now knows the answer to Gracie’s question. Ranked number one in the world at 135 pounds, the little Mexican kid’s a superstar.
As reigning World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion, Torres will carry confidence and momentum into his title defense against the unbeaten Manny Tapia in the WEC 37 main event on Wednesday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. A former King of the Cage titleholder, Tapia presents a number of challenges inside the cage. Torres expects a dogfight.
Miguel Torres bears his teacher's legacy proudly.“I’ve never really fought a guy like Manny,” Torres says. “He comes out with real heavy hands. I think he’s going to come out fast and look for a flash knockout. A lot of guys say they’re going to come out and bang with me. I think he’s one of the few who will, and that makes this an interesting fight for me.”

Torres’ path to self discovery was paved by years of competitive anonymity and seemingly insurmountable odds, as the 135-pound dynamo earned his stripes fighting for pennies in Indiana barrooms, sometimes against men who outweighed him by 70 pounds.
One night, more than any other, holds special significance for Torres. On Nov. 22, 2003, he made an unfamiliar and uncomfortable walk from the ring to his dressing room, the tears of fans trumpeting his departure from the Hammond Civic Center in Hammond, Ind.
In his first appearance since reconstructive knee surgery, the then 22-year-old Torres dropped a unanimous decision to Ryan Ackerman and knew, for the first time as a professional fighter, how it felt to fail. Torres sold 2,000 tickets to the Ironheart Crown VI show he was set to headline. In all, the crowd swelled to some 4,000, most of them there to see the East Chicago, Ind., native in action.
“I’d just come back from ACL surgery,” Torres says. “I was supposed to fight [Mustafa] Hussaini, but he pulled out, and when they couldn’t find a replacement, I agreed to fight Ackerman at a catchweight.”
He entered the ring as a heavy favorite, a perfect 19-0 record in tow, and threatened to dismiss Ackerman early, first with a guillotine choke and then with a triangle. As they returned to their feet eager to re-engage, Torres realized his 18-month, injury-induced layoff had taken a far greater toll on him than first thought.
“When I stood up, my legs were gone,” Torres says. “He took me down and mounted me. It’s still the only time in my career I’ve been mounted. I finished the fight, but I knew I had lost. Walking out and seeing all my fans crying had the biggest impact on my career. I vowed then that I’d never be outworked again.”
Five years later, Torres (34-1) stands atop the bantamweight world, WEC crown in hand, as he carves out a legacy likely to stand for generations. He has won 15 consecutive bouts -- including a submission victory over Ackerman in their 2005 rematch -- and has finished all but one of his opponents during a streak that spans 262 weeks and four days. Experience taught him to swallow his fears.
“I’m not scared of anybody in my weight class,” Torres says. “I’ve been in there with guys who were stronger than me. Those fights all built my game.”
Since he entered the WEC in 2007, Torres’ popularity has exploded. He claims the number of students who train at his home base -- Torres Martial Arts in Hammond, Ind. -- has nearly doubled. Daily e-mails flood his inbox from all across the globe.
“This past year, my fan base has grown worldwide,” Torres says. “I get e-mails from Japan, Mexico and Europe. Everything changed. I got onto some pound-for-pound lists, but people haven’t seen half of what I can do yet.”
His training sessions are the stuff of legend -- he was doing 1,000 crunches a day as a 7-year-old soccer player -- and does not have to dig deep for motivation. The first of three children born to blue-collar parents, Torres understands the benefit of hard work and remembers what it was like before the bright lights of the WEC shone upon him.
“There’s no way I want to go back,” he says. “I’ve seen guys do well and make it and then have to go back to the smaller shows. I’m going to fight hard to stay where I’m at. It makes me train so much harder.”

[Lucky7]

Frank Mir is not the brightest bulb...

Joseph Benavidez, who trains with Urijah, and fights almost exactly like Urijah (I think he looks a little like Urijah also) dominated Danny Martinez...

as did Brian Bowles dominate Will Ribeiro

Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura coming up...

[ama6730]

Fabiano vs Tamura....that was less than entertaining. I know, it was technical..blah, blah, blah. I guess I've just got spoiled by watching urijah fight!

[ama6730]

Miguel Torres looks unstoppable. I love watching him fight. You never know what he's going to do next.

[Lisa]

Frank Mir is not the brightest bulb...

Joseph Benavidez, who trains with Urijah, and fights almost exactly like Urijah (I think he looks a little like Urijah also) dominated Danny Martinez...

as did Brian Bowles dominate Will Ribeiro

Wagnney Fabiano vs. Akitoshi Tamura coming up...



Joseph looks like Urijah? Did I read that right Lucky?

[Lucky7]

Miguel Torres looks unstoppable. I love watching him fight. You never know what he's going to do next.


I just emailed my freind a review of the fight...I said "Miguel Torres is 135 lbs of kick ass"...but seriously, he was in the zone...just dominated that whole fight...great striking/boxing, great combinations...that 9 inch reach advantage was his best weapon...just kept slipping that jab...stunned Tapia a bunch of times.

[Lucky7]

Joseph looks like Urijah? Did I read that right Lucky?

yeah, you read it right...I said "a little"...obviously the hair is different, but the body type and fighting styles are very similar...there was something about the face...alright, scratch that...I just looked at some pics of him...but he definitely reminded me of Urijah last night.

And yes, Fabiano/Tamura wasn't the most exciting fight...like you said ama...Fabiano is very technical and methodical...the fact that Tamura was playing defensethe whole match didn't help either.

[Kimberly]

Fabiano vs Tamura....that was less than entertaining. I know, it was technical..blah, blah, blah. I guess I've just got spoiled by watching urijah fight!

Yeah ama, I agree. We had to DVR the fights last night so we watched that one in fast forward. Made it move a little faster. :) Of course we had a great laugh when Fabiano came out the Rocky theme. Not what we were expecting.

Aside from that one, all the fights were great to watch. There's definitely something to be said about watching the lightweights fight.

[Lucky7]

Of course we had a great laugh when Fabiano came out the Rocky theme.


I totally forgot about that! That was funny...especially for a Brazilian born, now living in Canada!

Another comical highlight: when Tapia comes out to the mariachi music and Mir makes some comment, then his partner says it's almost over...and Torres comes out to mariachi music!!!!!

[Kimberly]

I totally forgot about that! That was funny...especially for a Brazilian born, now living in Canada!

Another comical highlight: when Tapia comes out to the mariachi music and Mir makes some comment, then his partner says it's almost over...and Torres comes out to mariachi music!!!!!

Yeah, we got a good laugh out of that too. But the laughing definitely ended once the fight started. Torres did not disappoint!

[Lisa]

yeah the marachi music was classic. Too funny! I think I liked that better than Brown's Bush song that he walked out to. How stupid was that? My favorite of all is Faber's song of course!

[Britt]

I liked the role scissor thing myself, afterwards I tried to do it didnt look as good coming from me and it took me a little longer to get up.:(

[Kimberly]

I liked the role scissor thing myself, afterwards I tried to do it didnt look as good coming from me and it took me a little longer to get up.:(

LOL! I'll have to give that a try in class tonight. I like how he came down the axe kick. Would have been cool if he connected!

[Rattlebone]

Poor Manny. Walking in with his flag at half mast was a bad omen for sure.

Attention challengers. Miguel rules his zone.

[Lucky7]

Manny Tapia is now saying the fight was stopped prematurely (whet else would you expect him to say?). There's a video on Sherdog...his face is BUSTED!!!!

[Kimberly]

There's a whiner in every bunch. Some people just can't accept the fact they lost. He should be thanking the ref for stopping it when he did, cuz he was getting his ass kicked!

[ama6730]

He got his ass kicked the entire fight. I'm usually the first one to whine about early stoppages, but this one was right on imo.

[Rattlebone]

Manny Tapia is now saying the fight was stopped prematurely (whet else would you expect him to say?). There's a video on Sherdog...his face is BUSTED!!!!

Forgive poor Manny. It was those wicked scorpion strikes to the dome. He'll probably be mumbling anything for a while.