Miguel Torres: from barrooms to the big time

[pa99fighter]

Miguel Torres: from barrooms to the big time
by John Morgan on May 26, 2008 at 4:00 pm ET
With a full weekend of MMA bouts on the horizon, fans have been bombarded with the marketing of "YouTube Legend" Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, as well as the "Biggest Cage Fight in History" between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver. Seemingly lost in the mix, but ready to defend his WEC bantamweight title for the first time this Sunday night, is long-time-veteran Miguel Torres (33-1).

Torres has built an astounding record since he began fighting on local shows in the Midwest more than 10 years ago. But that record is even more amazing when you find that the 27-year-old owns another 12 unaccounted-for victories.

"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."

The landscape of MMA 10 years ago was vastly different than that of today, and Torres' parents were hesitant about their son's desire to step into the cage.

"My folks, they thought I was nuts when I mentioned it," Torres said. "My dad was like, 'There's no way in hell you're going to fight like that, especially in a bar.' They didn't understand what it was. They had never seen the UFC. My dad understood boxing, but he didn't understand full-contact fighting. He thought it was something crazy. At the time I was 120 pounds, and he was like 'You're crazy. You're not going to go out there and fight these guys.' I showed him a tape of Royce Gracie and these guys, and he was like, 'No way man. You're not doing that.'"

Torres' parents finally relented, and the Indiana native took on every opponent he could find.

"There were fights they had between gyms," Torres said. "There were fights in little clubs and bars in my hometown and around my hometown, and that's how I started fighting. ...There was no weigh-ins. You walked in, and they had you sign a waiver form so you couldn't sue the bar or the guy that was throwing the event. You didn't get paid. They asked you how much you weighed. So it was a group of the rawest guys you would see. They would line you up, and say, 'Ok, how much do you weigh, and how much do you weigh?' They would ask you your experience level, and then that's how they had the fights."

As a young Torres continued to rack up wins, larger organizations began to call. But for Torres, the logical choice was to remain close to home.

"Promoters (in the Midwest) knew me already," Torres explained. "And when I was fighting on their cards, I was making $8,000 to $10,000 a show. And for me, back in that time, that was huge. There were guys that were fighting in the UFC that weren't making a thousand (dollars).

"Shooto would call me. I think the WEC called me a couple times. I got a couple calls from Canada. And they were all for like 500 bucks and a plane ticket. I had to fly my own corner men. I was like, 'Dude, you're crazy. I'm going to go out there and fight for free?' There's no way I'm going to train to fight Mark Hominick or Ivan Menjivar for a thousand bucks if I win. There's no way. Ivan Menjivar can fight over here, and he could make [$5,000], and I can make [$10,000]. For me it was never a good idea to do that because the money wasn't right. I didn't want to leave my hometown if I wasn't going to be compensated."

With Zuffa's purchase of the WEC, the time finally came for Torres to make his debut for a nationally recognized organization. Torres made his presence known quickly, with impressive first-round submission victories over Jeff Bedard and then-champion Chase Beebe to win the WEC bantamweight title.

Surprisingly, however, Torres does not feel he has reached his peak performance level.

"Well, right now my style, I want to say for the last nine or 10 years, has been to adapt to my opponent's moves," Torres said. "To let him make a move, and I make a counter-move. ... I'm trying to work more on my wrestling game to where I can dictate the pace of the fight. If I want the fight to be standing, I'm going to keep it standing. If I want to take it to the ground, I'm going to take it to the ground. I think when I can hit that kind of level of fighting, like the way B.J. Penn did [Saturday], not letting (Sean) Sherk take him down. When you can make a wrestler stand up on his feet, that's when I think you've hit a level of the game that's awesome. ... I can strike, and I can grapple, but I want to be able to dictate where that's going to be at."

Equally surprising is the manner in which Torres has trained en route to becoming a world champion.

"I started my gym about six years ago, and my students have been so loyal to me," Torres said. "They're my main training partners. People come to my gym, and they're expecting to see five or six black belts. They're expecting to see all these Thai-boxers, like a Randy Couture-kind of gym, and it's not like that at all. My students are just regular people, and they come and take their time after their work and after they get out of school; they come and they help me train.

"I fly guys out here to come and help me prepare, but my main training partners are my students. It's a two-fold effect for me. The first effect is my kids see how dedicated I am, (that) I don't forget where I come from. Everything is done in-house. And they develop a big respect for me and what I do. They learn by example, and they want to grow up like that now. And the next thing is my students that help me train may be fighters one day. So while they're helping me prepare for my fights, they're actually developing skills of their own."

Now 10 years into a successful MMA career, Torres will put his new world title on the line against his stiffest test to date, PRIDE and Pancrase veteran Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2).

"I don't feel more pressure," Torres said. "If anything, I feel a relief of pressure. I was always the champion of something, but I was never considered a world title-holder, a No. 1 in the sport in the world. ... Before, I was always trying to beat somebody to get to the next level. And I'm considered to be at the top level, which I don't even think I'm at that level yet, but I'm considered to be there. Now I just have to maintain."

Not that Torres is looking past Maeda.

"When you're the champ, you have to defend it," he said. "There's always going to be someone behind you that's like me, trying to take me off or what-not. That's what I got to be ready for. That's what I've been preparing myself mentally for. This guy's coming out here. He's flying all the way from Japan to fight me. He doesn't want to come home empty-handed. So he's going to be training real hard, and I've got to keep that mind when I train."

The humble, hard-working Torres has not tasted defeat in four-and-a-half years and 14 trips into the cage. And while Maeda is a world-class competitor, Torres is prepared to keep his new title.

"I think [Maeda's] going to have a big surprise coming in to this fight, especially when we tangle up," Torres explained. "I'm going to have a lot more tools than he does. [Maeda's] biggest tools are a left head kick, a left body kick and a left knee. As long as I'm aware of those three things, I think he's going to have a hard night."
Source: mmajunkie.com

Looking forward to this fight. War Torres

[Severn]

Dude has sick BJJ. Man he blew right by Chase Beebe and Chase is one tough kid.

[Rockx]

I definitely want to see Miquel fight again, dude brings the aggressive BJJ I like to see.

[Frag x 3]

I'm just as excited for the Torres fight as I am the main event. Should be pretty fuckin' awesome.

[ILJO]

yea he really impressed me in his last fight. I gotta admit that it was the first time Id seen him fight but I sure as hell am a fan now.

He's got some really sick bjj

[leedogg900]

pretty much agree with everything said, he has some sick ass bjj.