Up until WEC 42, Miguel Torres was considered among the top pound-for-pound athletes in the world. He was racking up quite a streak as the WEC's Bantamweight Champion, and had just come off a fight of the year performance against Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 40. Then, things started to fall apart. Torres lost his title to Brian Bowles at WEC 42 via KO in a fight it looked like he was winning until the KO, and just recent lost to Joseph Benavidez this past Saturday by submission. Throughout the fight, it looked to me that Torres couldn't deal with the speed of Benavidez, getting caught numerous time with punches and looking sloppier than usual on the ground. Eventually, Benavidez cut Torres with some vicious ground and pound, and finished the fight via Guillotine Choke in the second round.
This is two straight losses for the formerly vaunted champion. It didn't look like he was prepared for the speed and pace of Benavidez, much like Bowles looked against Dominick Cruz the same night. For Torres, he needs to keep learning from his mistakes and not let this streak get to him. He still has a very well-rounded skill set and a wealth of talent. It's not over for him. What this does do is likely set up a rematch between Cruz and Benavidez, this time for the title. The last fight was very fast paced and exciting, and both have looked even better in their most recent bouts. This is definitely shaping up to be quite a fight. Still, Torres needs to find it in him to stay strong and get back on the right track after this latest setback. There's no reason why he can't re-climb the ladder and get back into the pound-for-pound conversation. He has the tools, but he needs to learn how to use them better.
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