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One-on-One: Miguel Torres Talks WEC 40, Fighting In Chicago, His Legacy And More
By Ariel Helwani
March 23, 2009

Miguel Torres (35-1-0) is a wanted man these days. The current reigning and defending king of the bantamweight division has a huge bulls-eye on his back because every fighter knows that a win over Torres can drastically change his career.

Next in line is WEC newcomer Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2). The Cage Force Bantamweight champion has talked openly about wanting to face Miguel Torres, and on April 5 (Versus 9pm ET/6pm PT), he will finally get his chance.

Versus.com’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Torres to talk about his fight against Mizugaki, competing in Chicago, his legacy and one particular fighter who has been getting under his skin.

Below is a transcript of their conversation.

You found out about Brian Bowles’ injury just one month ago. How did the opponent switch affect your preparation for this fight?
It doesn’t really affect anything. I train pretty much the same for whomever I am fighting. I train standup and ground, no matter what the strength of the other person is. When I fight somebody, I don’t try to fight them out of their comfort level; I try to fight them in their comfort level because I think it makes it hard for somebody to prepare for me. Like if I am fighting a good striker, I am going to fight him as a striker and beat him at his own game that way my next opponent will see that I am not going to take him down if he’s a good striker or vice versa. That leaves a big awareness out there that anything can happen in the fight. I am going to standup with you, but if I take you down that will catch you off guard because you weren’t prepared for it. So, not a big switch for me.

This will be Takeya Mizugaki’s first fight in the United States. What do you know about him?
I actually just got done watching four of his fights. I know he’s a good striker. I know he likes to go out and try to knock his opponents out. He doesn’t like to be on the ground. I notice that when he gets to the ground, he tries to go back on his feet right away. He’s not your typical Japanese fighter where he’ll come out and try to do a feel out the round, or move around to get the tempo of the fight up; he starts banging right away. So, that’s right up my alley. The harder he brings the fight, the more trouble we are going to get ourselves into.

I noticed in three or four of his fights that he is heavy-handed with his right, and he comes with a bunch of right and left hooks. So, he is going to come in swinging. That’s his style: he’ll drop a little and then come with a big right or big left. I have also noticed that he doesn’t have a real strong chin. He’s gotten clipped a couple of times because he gets kind of reckless, and he’s gotten dropped a couple of times.

You’ve fought in the Chicago-area a bunch of times before on smaller shows, however, does this fight feel any different because you are coming home for the first time as WEC bantamweight champion competing on a nationally-televised card?
Oh, it’s a huge step up. I made my whole living out here, and it’s kind of funny you brought up that question because when I was fighting out here there were guys who would never watch me fight because I was fighting every month or week out here for eight years. But then I get to the WEC and starting fighting on Versus, and then those same guys come up to me when I am at a restaurant and ask, ‘Hey, when are you going to fight in your hometown again?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I got a contract with Versus, I am fighting in Vegas or California next month.’ And they are like, ‘Well, when are you going to fight here again?’ And I’m like, ‘Probably not for a long time. You guys had your chance.’

So, for me to come back here and fight in my hometown, it’s going to be wild. It was a good thing that I went to the WEC event in Texas (WEC 39, March 1, 2009) to see (Texas-native) Leonard Garcia fight Mike Brown, because I saw how pumped up the crowd got Leonard. It put him out of his game a little bit; it made him tight and a little antsy. So, I will remember to stay calm and relaxed, even though my fans are going to get my hyped up. It’s a homecoming for me, and I am very happy to represent my city and especially to fight a Japanese opponent because they are some of the toughest.

It sounds like when somebody comes to their high school reunion after they were picked on as a kid, but now they are very successful in life. Does that seem accurate?
Yes, that’s exactly it. I don’t have a chip on my shoulder, but just a lot more respect and responsibility. People know that I am not a flashy guy or cocky, but I have a target on my back and all these guys are coming after me. So, my community understands that and people come to the gym and bring food, they bring water or Gatorade. Everybody is trying to help me out as much as they can. So, I am really happy that the WEC decided to come here.

I know a lot of your early fights have not been accounted for, but regardless, you still have competed in more than 20 MMA fights than a lot of your opponents. How big of a factor is that?
I think, first and foremost, that fighting opponents that have the same amount of fights on their record as me is going to be hard. I started fighting when I was 17 going on 18. You have Jeff Curran out there who has the same number of fights as I do, but other than him, it’s going to be hard to find an opponent with that kind of skills. Back in the day, you didn’t have to be a well-trained, well-versed fighter where you had to know Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, boxing and wrestling. Back then, if you were a boxer, you could start doing MMA and make a career out of it if you picked up other skill sets. My skills grew with the evolution of MMA. I was primarily a striker who had one or two Jiu-Jitsu moves, but every big fight, I picked up something different. So, my training was my fighting.

Nowadays, I have guys that have to train for two to three years before they get their first fight, because the guys who come into the fight game now are a lot more tougher. So, even though guys like Brian Bowles and Mizugaki only have 10 or 15 fights, they are a lot tougher than guys I fought for half of my career. However, when it comes to ring or cage experience, that’s one thing I have that they don’t.

You have really become the face of the bantamweight division in MMA. Do you feel any extra-added pressure to continue to win so that you can cement this division’s status as one of the best in the sport?
I don’t see it as added pressure I see it as responsibility. For a while, I was fighting at 135 against guys who were 155 or 175, and the weight class was just open. But once more guys started to fight at lighter weight classes, I had to be the staple. But that was only at a local level. Now, I am doing the same thing that I was doing in my hometown on a worldwide level, but it doesn’t affect me too much.

I have heard you talk about the fact that you sleep in your gym all week and only go home to your family on the weekend. How difficult is that?
You know, that gets to me in the sense that the other week, I was in the gym three days straight; I didn’t leave the gym once. I had my assistant bring my food here, and I was in the gym the whole time. I didn’t even realize it. I went outside and it went from being below zero to 80 degrees. (That) gets frustrating. But at the same time, it puts me in the right mind set because when I am in my gym, I feel like I am a caged animal. And when I come to fight, it’s my time to break free and show what I have been doing this whole time. I am big on being a mental athlete. You know, I am not a physical person; I am not very big, or very strong. And being stuck in the gym makes me mentally tough. I sacrifice a lot of my time and energy in here, and it makes me hone my craft and be good at what I do.

I would love to get your thoughts on the Joseph Benavidez vs. Jeff Curran fight because the winner of that fight may very well be your next opponent.
That’s a tough fight. Jeff Curran has a lot of experience. He has a game similar to mine with good Jiu-Jitsu and good striking. He is also a good wrestler. But one thing that Jeff has that goes against him is that he has a lot of fights at higher weight classes. He’s fought at 155 (pounds) in the UFC, he’s fought at 145 (pounds) in the WEC, and he hasn’t had very positive outcomes. He went up in weight too early to try and gain what everyone wants: fame and money, and he didn’t find it. Now he is back at 135 after a long journey - a journey that led him to empty places. I think he has been through too much mentally.

Benavidez is very dangerous. Benavidez has never been knocked out or submitted, and that is very dangerous because that kind of opponent has no fear in them. Benavidez knows he can win the fight; he’s not going to be afraid to exchange with Curran, or go on the ground with Curran. Curran is going to come out cautious because he doesn’t want to lose the fight. So, it depends on how each guy comes to fight: Benavidez is going to come in to win and Curran might come not to lose. That can go against him. It all depends on how his mind set is going into the fight. I would love to fight either guy.

Considering the fact that Curran is also from Chicago, how big would a Curran vs. Torres fight in Chicago be?
Oh, it would be huge. It would sell out in a matter of days, I think. Curran and me have been in the area for a long time. Curran has been talking a lot of (expletive) about me, pardon my language, and I hope Curran wins the fight because I want to fight him so bad. I have known him for a long time, and we have been cool, but now he sees what I have. He never wanted to fight at 135 because he never saw any future in it. I had faith in 135 for the longest time and now it’s paying off for me. Now he wants to take what I have, and he’s not going about it the right way. He’s talking a lot (expletive) about me.

What’s he been saying?
He did a Q&A at a WEC event, and a fan asked him what he thought about Miguel Torres at 135. He said, ‘I respect Miguel a lot, but he doesn’t have anything for me. When I fight him, I am going to kick his ass and take my title from him.’

He’s (also) called me out in my hometown. He came to a fight in my hometown, I wasn’t at the show, and he got on the stage and called me out. He said he couldn’t wait to get to 135 to take his title, and different things like that. Curran is just trying to hype a fight, and he is doing a pretty good job of it. But with a fight like that, I wouldn’t train to beat Jeff Curran, I would train to hurt Jeff Curran. He’s made me really angry in the last couple of weeks.

Have you been approached by WEC about fighting on their potential pay-per-view card in June?
They’ve talked to me about it, but I don’t know if I want to do that right away. It would depend on what they are going to give (the fighters) on the pay-per-views. I am not trying to fight (too often); I’m not a Jose Aldo. I used to fight twice a month in tournaments where, in one night, I would fight three guys. So, I am trying to take a little bit of a laid back approach now. I want to fight three times a year. If I come out unscathed in this upcoming fight and I’m healthy, I would consider it, but I am not going to commit myself ahead of time. I have got to get past Mizugaki first.

Would you ever consider fighting Mike Brown or Urijah Faber in some kind catchweight super-fight?
Yes, I would.

Have they approached you about it?
No, not yet. I know they talked to Urijah about it. I think a fight between me and Brown or Faber deserves to be on pay-per-view, and we deserve to be marketed like a GSP versus Penn.