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9. Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki
WEC 40 | April 5, 2009

There was a time when Torres ruled the WEC’s bantamweight division with an iron fist, and there was even talk of him as a potential pound-for-pound great. In hindsight, wins over Chase Beebe, Yoshiro Maeda and Manny Tapia, while respectable, probably made that talk a bit premature. Still, heading into his fight with Mizugaki, Torres had an immense amount of momentum behind him: a record of 36-1 and a 16-fight winning streak.

Torres had built a reputation as a hard-nosed brawler on the feet with a slick submission game to match, and Mizugaki’s straightforward style played right into what the American wanted to do. Mizugaki came forward aggressively, slinging punching combinations and trying to push Torres toward the fence. Torres responded with his telephone pole of a jab and vicious knees in the clinch.

The two fighters combined to land 213 significant strikes in 25 minutes of incredible back-and-forth action. It marked Torres’ high-water mark as a fighter. He would be knocked out by Brian Bowles and lose his title in his next outing, touching off a 3-6 stretch that dropped him out of the ranks of the lighter-weight elite. On that night, however, Torres looked every bit the dominant action-fighting champion.

Number 8 » Faber vs. Pulver