In Their Own Words: Strikeforce’s best commentators, UFC 127 fighting words and more

By Jason Kelly

“When you and Mike Schiavello did the commentating on the Strikeforce undercard, that was the best part of the f**king show.” – Joe Rogan commends Bas Rutten on a job well done during Rogan’s UStream broadcast.

“I know I can beat B.J. (Penn). I mean I can beat anybody. I’ll fight GSP, I’ll fight Anderson Silva. I can beat anybody. Anywhere I want, I have that much confidence in myself.” – Jon Fitch, at the UFC 127 press conference in Australia.

“We won’t know unless we get in the same organization. Who’s to say that I’m No. 1 or they’re No. 1 if we haven’t fought yet? We’ll never know until we all fight each other. But they’re definitely the top guys. No joke about that.” – Cain Velasquez speaks on the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix participants, and the comparison of UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight fighters.

“My new style is actually cerebral and smart. I don’t get hurt anymore, but (I) lost fans. When I get the belt back, they will (love me) again.” – Miguel Torres expresses the confidence he found with his revamped style of fighting.

 

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Miguel Torres: Fedor Should ‘Man Up or Get Left Behind’

By Matt Erickson

It’s not often Fedor Emelianenko and Miguel Torres are talked about in the same conversation.

Fedor is a soft-spoken 230-pound heavyweight from the heart of Russia. Torres is a 135-pound Mexican-American bantamweight living in the shadow of Chicago, and a few glances at his Twitter feed shows he’s far from shy. Physical and social equals, they are not.

Fedor has been synonymous with the sport of mixed martial arts for years – so much so that he needs only one name. But only in the last three years did Torres get widespread recognition.

There was a time two years ago when Fedor was at the top of most pound-for-pound discussions, and Torres himself had entered the top-5 mix. But beyond that, the two had little reason to be mentioned together.

But they might be more alike than most people think. Torres believes the similarities are there – and he believes Fedor, following back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, needs to do just what he did last year after suffering a similar, formerly unthinkable skid: Pack the bags and change things up, or he’ll only have himself to blame.

“He’s at a crossroads in his life,” Torres told MMA Fighting last week. “(He’s been) dominating his division, plus the popularity, exposure and everything that comes with being The Man, a showman, a father, representing a country and people – and being a fighter.

 

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Miguel Torres vs. Brad Pickett Scheduled for UFC 130

By Jake Chastain

After winning his first UFC fight last week at UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort, Miguel Torres has now been given his next opponent in British fighter, Brad Pickett. Torres tweeted last night that he accepted the fight, which was first reported by HeavyMMA.com.

Miguel Torres (39-3) is a former WEC champion that has recently fallen from his pedestal in the past year and a half. However, after back to back losses following an impressive 17-fight winning streak, Torres has run off two straight victories to get back to his winning ways, including his most recent decision victory over Antonio Banuelos in his UFC debut last Saturday. He will now look to extend that streak to three in a row with a win over Pickett.

Pickett (20-5) will make his own UFC debut against Torres on May 28th. The former WEC fighter went 3-1 under that promotion, with his only loss coming to Scott Jorgensen. Pickett will now look to impress the UFC brass with a solid victory over Torres to open up his UFC career and begin his hopeful climb to the top of the division. A win over the technically sound Torres will surely place him on the right path.

The two will meet at UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 on May 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The show is to be headlined by the re-re-match between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and number one contender Gray Maynard.

 

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Miguel Torres Confirms UFC 130 Fight with Brad Pickett

By Tom Ngo

Fresh of his successful big league debut at UFC 126, former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres has confirmed a May 28th scrap against Brad Pickett.

“Got offered a fight with Brad Pickett for @UFC 130. My answer was [expletive] yes, thank you, & [you’re] welcome,” Torres tweeted late Friday night.

Torres was riding a 17-fight winning streak prior to losing his title to Brian Bowles in 2009. The owner of MMA’s sickest mullet subsequently suffered a submission defeat to Joseph Benavidez. However, Torres appears to have recaptured his mojo. He’s won two straight, including his decision over Antonio Banuelos earlier this month.

Pickett went 3-1 in the WEC, with his lone defeat coming to contender Scott Jorgensen. However, “One Punch” rounded out his blue-caged career on a winning note with a decision victory over Ivan Menjivar at WEC 53. UFC 130 takes place inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pay-per-view broadcast features a lightweight title fight between champ Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

Here are the athletes scheduled to participate in the star-studded show:

Miguel Torres vs. Brad Pickett
Travis Browne vs. Stefan Struve
Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story
Anthony Pettis vs. Clay Guida
Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Matt Hamill
Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar (UFC Lightweight Champion)

 

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UFC 130 – Miguel Torres vs. Brad Pickett in the works for May 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada

By Michael Pepper

A bantamweight clash between former WEC champion, Miguel Torres and UK stand-out, Brad Pickett appears to be in the works for UFC 130 on May 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A source close to the situation revealed the news to Heavy.com earlier today, although it is not known if bout agreements have been exchanged as yet.

Torres is coming off an efficient win over Antonio Banuelos at UFC 126 earlier this month, putting in the kind of performance that ensure he receives very little damage, but in turn draws a lot of boos from the crowd.

As for Pickett, he rebounded from an earlier loss inside the WEC cage to Scott Jorgensen when he defeated Ivan Menjivar at WEC 53 in December via decision. The show marked the last ever one put on by the promotion.

 

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It’s Antonio Banuelos’ Chance To Shine At UFC 126

By Brian Lopez-Benchimol

Exciting, energetic, and colorful are all apt descriptions for one of the best kept secret’s in the bantamweight class.

Antonio Banuelos holds the claim as one of the true pioneer’s of the 135-pound division, having competed for the now defunct World Extreme Cagefighting organization since it’s early years, debuting in the promotion in 2002 at “WEC 5: Halloween Fury.”

Now, flash forward nearly nine-years later, and the California native is on the cusp of debuting in the worlds largest mixed martial arts organization, which recently assimilated with it’s sister promotion in the WEC. He faces one of his toughest challenges to date in former world champion Miguel Torres, on arguably the most stacked card of 2011.

“I was just happy that they kept me on the roste​r and got me on this card. Just nothing but good things came out of it,” Banuelos said of the merger while a guest on the MMAWeekly Radio Show.

“I love the WEC, it was big, but the UFC has that giant brand market name. Even though we fought in the same cage and did the same thing that everybody else did, everyone’s like ‘whoa, you’re a UFC fighter?!’ Well, I’ve always been a fighter guys, come on.

“It’s a huge fight in a huge arena on a UFC pay-per-view card, it’s going to be amazing.”

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Stakes High for Torres in UFC Debut

By Todd Martin

For years, Miguel Torres led a life strangely defined by dominance and anonymity. Inside the cage, he ran up dozens upon dozens of wins against only one — later avenged — loss. But those wins came at a time when lighter weight fighters struggled to capture the public’s imagination. Many of Torres’ victories remain unchronicled to this day, and his known triumphs took place almost exclusively in low-profile shows in the Midwest. Torres had a feared reputation but lacked the proper stage to showcase his skills.

That changed with Zuffa’s purchase of World Extreme Cagefighting. The WEC became the promotion for lighter weight North American fighters, and Torres had the venue to become a star. Torres won the WEC bantamweight title in his second bout for the promotion and defended it successfully on three occasions. Torres’ name was a mainstay in pound-for-pound lists, and his classic bout with Takeya Mizugaki drew more than 5,000 fans in Chicago.

With fame arrived a new set of challenges. Opponents once knew little about Torres’ tendencies. Now, they were studying his game for weaknesses and devoting training camps to tackle his particular style. Torres’ anonymity vanished, but so, too, did his dominance. Torres dropped consecutive bouts via knockout to Brian Bowles and submission to Joseph Benavidez.

 

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Antonio Banuelos Supports Liddell No Matter What, Even If He Wants To Be A Singer

By MMAWeekly

Chuck Liddell’s presence in the mixed martial arts community is still as strong as ever. He’s a UFC Hall of Famer, former world champion–and arguably, the most dominant light heavyweight fighter of all time when he was in his prime. So when he decided to finally hang his gloves up following a 1-5 stint over the course of his last six fights (four of which came by some form of knockout), his longtime friend and training partner Antonio Banuelos, who makes his UFC Octagon debut this Saturday, was right there to support the daunting decision.

“We small talked about it, just about his career and stuff like that,” said Banuelos.

“My role in the part, what I told him was whatever he wanted to do I would back him up 110 percent. It was up to him. It’s his choice and I just told him that I would back him up no matter what.”

 

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Antonio Banuelos Has a Family in “The Pit” and Is Excited For Fight at UFC 126

By Joshua Carey

UFC 126 will feature a bantamweight clash between two of the divisions most talented fighters when Antonio Banuelos (18-6), squares off against former champion Miguel Torres. Banuelos entered the sport professionally in 2001, learns under the tutelage of renowned coach John Hackleman at “The Pit” in Arroyo Grande, CA.

The Pit has been home to Banuelos since the beginning of his career and when the bantamweight contender has a fight on his schedule it means one thing, intensity.

“It changes when I have a fight because normally we’re working out to stay in shape, so when someone has a fight the intensity picks up and John changes it. He makes us do what we have to do and we get the job done.”

To Banuelos, “The Pit” is more than a gym, it’s a family. Hackleman and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, have spent countless hours by the bantamweight’s side preparing for fights and the knowledge shared is invaluable.

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