Miguel Torres: The Trials and Tribulations of a Prize Fighter

(Ouch)

Miguel Torres is having a rough stretch in facing the best 135lb fighters in the world coming off of his second loss in a row. I have nothing against Joseph Benavidez, but I cursed his name repeatedly when he split Miguel open and choked him out. I congratulate Benavidez for shining in his biggest fight aside from newly crowned champion Dominick Cruz. It was however tough to see one of my favorite fighters handily beaten for the second outing in as many fights. 

Can Miguel regain prominence in the class that he was predicted to rule for the foreseeable future? Torres looked tentative and did not attack fearlessly as he did to get him to the top of the bantamweight food chain and it looks as though the loss may have affected him more so than first thought. Miguel was qouted as saying that he was attempting to fight more like Machida and less like Wanderlei. It was uncharacteristic of Torres though to fight that way and it may have cost him the fight. 

A knockout loss can sometimes make a fighter question his chin and render him unable to pull the trigger as he once had. That may not be the case for Torres. Two of the best at 135 in a row is a tall order for a fighter, even one who held mythical status just two fights ago. Torres did everything right leading up to the fight as he changed up his training and worked with different coaches. He got rid of the rif-raf in his camp and got down to business. The only true measure of how Miguel will come back from this is his next fight. For fans of the mulleted one hope remains high that he will again be a top competitor, if not champion, in the bantamweight division. 

If you missed the fight card Saturday the full results are below:

WEC 47 Results

Ricardo Lamas Def. Bendy Casimir KO (Knee)1,3:43
Fredson Paixao Def. Courtney Buck Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)1,2:39
George Roop Def. Leonard Garcia Draw 3,5:00
Anthony Pettis Def. Danny Castillo KO (Head Kick and Punches)1,2:27
Chad Mendes Def. Erik Koch Decision (Unanimous)3,5:00
Scott Jorgensen Def. Chad George Submission (Guillotine Choke)1,0:31
Bart Palaszewski Def. Karen Darabedyan Submission (Armbar)1,4:40
L.C. Davis Def. Deividas Taurosevicius Decision (Majority)3,5:00
Javier Vazquez Def. Jens Pulver Submission (Armbar)1,3:41
Joseph BenavidezDef. Miguel Torres Submission (Guillotine Choke)2,2:57
Dominick Cruz Def. Brian Bowles TKO (Doctor Stoppage)2,5:00