Miguel Torres

(Props: Machinemen via CRE)

Some must-see vids to get you through the rest of the afternoon: First up, a fantastic Miguel Torres highlight reel that reminds us why he's one of the most entertaining fighters in the world. After the jump, the UFC 103 extended trailer re-introduces Vitor Belfort to all the TUF noobs out there, sets up Cro Cop vs. Dos Santos as a meeting between an MMA legend and a dangerous up-and-comer, and plugs the #1 welterweight contender match between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann. "If Swick's looking at the GSP fight before me, he's gonna make a big mistake, 'cause I'm gonna fuck him right up," says Kampmann. Also, the Octagon Girls are not quite ready for prime time.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Nothing lasts forever — even cold November rain, and the seemingly untouchable bantamweight championship run of Miguel Torres. No, Torres did not ruin Brian Bowles's boyish face at last night's WEC 42, as many (everybody?) assumed he would. Instead, Bowles nearly knocked the former champ's mullet off during a violent belt-taking that was reminiscent of Brown vs. Faber 1.

Torres was in trouble from the beginning of the match, as Bowles sent him to the canvas with a heavy right hand. After Bowles dropped some elbows from the top, Torres was able to kick Bowles off of him. Moments later, Torres launched forward with a barrage of punches that had Bowles on his heels, but Bowles fired off a sharp right hook that dropped Torres again, and started throwing down bombs until Torres was in dreamland. Brian Bowles — who picked up a $10,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for his shocking of the world — is the new WEC bantamweight champ. “No excuses,” Torres said after the fight. “Brian is going to be a good champion, but he’ll see that the responsibilities that go along with being the champion are not easy.”

(Many years from now baseball historians will trace the explosion of the wildly popular MLB mullet fad to this one magical moment.)

As you may have heard by now, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle made history today by throwing a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays.  What you probably didn't know was that the man who set the tone for that outing was WEC champ Miguel Torres, who threw out the first pitch.  And sure, you could argue that the person who throws out the first pitch at a baseball game has absolutely nothing to do with the events of the game itself.  All I know is that when Mario Lopez threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers-Mets game a couple months ago, no such perfect game occurred.  Coincidence? 

Yeah, probably.  But we are not going to let you take this moment away from Miguel, you heartless sons of bitches. 

(Props: MMA Mania)

The WEC's next title bout will go down August 9th in Las Vegas, with undisputed bantamweight ruler Miguel Torres (37-1 confirmed record, 5-0 WEC) making his fourth belt defense against exciting contender Brian Bowles (7-0, 4-0 WEC). Despite the large difference in experience, the above promo video does its best to convince you that Bowles is a serious threat. "If I have to pick anybody out there, if I was Miguel Torres's manager, who I would want to avoid, it would have been Brian Bowles," says WEC analyst Frank Mir, proving why he's paid to fight and do color commentary, not manage careers. "To beat me you have to kill me," Torres says. "To beat me, you gotta take my heart out of my chest, and stab me with a knife." Luckily, Bowles has been training with MMA legend Mola Ram.

WEC 42 will also feature a possible #1 bantamweight contender match between Joseph Benavidez and Dominick Cruz, and the return of Leonard Garcia against Jameel Massouh.

(Sandals at the ballpark? Oh, you California kids.)

Behold, Urijah Faber throws out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game last Friday.  We're just busting his balls with the headline.  His throwing motion is acceptable for a fighter, though the intense look of concentration on his face reminds me of a six year-old playing Nintendo, suggesting that Faber really did not want to screw this whole first pitch thing up and look stupid in front of literally dozens of people at the Stockton Ports game.