Torres and Mizugaki Given $10,000 Bonuses for Fight of the Year
(Torres discusses his war with Mizugaki in the post-event press-conference. Props: MMA Mania)
Yes, it's only early April, but last night's WEC main event between Miguel Torres and Takeya Mizugaki established itself as a 2009 Fight of the Year front-runner that might not be touched in the next nine months. (We'll post the video as soon as it turns up, but the Internet is failing us right now.) Honestly, Torres/Mizugaki made Torres/Maeda look like Lashley/Guida. And the fight was a lot closer than the scorecards (or Frank Mir's biased, nuthugging commentary) would suggest.
Mizugaki shocked the crowd by fearlessly outstriking Torres in the opening round and keeping up an inhuman pace through 25 minutes; wisely, he avoided following Torres to the ground when the champion baited him. Torres may have had the edge in the later rounds, but he was never able to put the tough-as-nails challenger in danger of being finished. Still, he fought relentlessly, and once again proved himself the rightful owner of the 135-pound crown. His next thrilling victory will likely be in August against currently-sidelined #1-contender Brian Bowles.
For their efforts, both Torres and Mizugaki picked up $10,000 Fight of the Night bonuses. (That's the best you can do, WEC? Now we know why Miguel wants to chase larger paydays in ill-advised weight classes.) Also taking home the extra 10 G's were Anthony Njokuani for his Knockout of the Night over Bart Palaszewski, and Rani Yahya for his Submission of the Night (via first-round rear-naked choke) over Eddie Wineland.
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Wandering Wade Says:
Fight of the Year
Raizor Says:
WEC should ditch the other bonuses and throw everything into the Fight of the Night bonus. That would fatten up the $10,000 nicely...
TUF GUY Says:
First ASSHOLES
agentsmith Says:
WEC better be fucking careful that the Japanese promotions don't poach their star players. Guaranteed Sengoku or DREAM would pay Torres more than WEC is.
nEw JeRsEy - NeW jErSeY Says:
I'm so lame...I fell asleep probably 20 minutes before the fight started. I've yet to see the video, can't wait!
$10K is a lousy FOTN bonus...that's a KO or SUB of the night, not the for the best show of the night.
Wandering Wade Says:
The UFC needs to bring in the lower weight classes asap. That shit was EPIC. That's the type of fight that I don't mind seeing go the distance. That might have made it into my Top 10 Favorite fights.
Chaplin Says:
i thought the Curran fight was fight of the night. either fighter could have taken it at any time. the torres fight was a war but i never felt mizugaki really posed a legit threat. he just refused to die
Wandering Wade Says:
@ Chaplin
Never posed a legit threat? Torres ate more leather than an old white man at a BDSM Party. Torres was having problems finding his range (contrary to what Frank Mir was saying) and Mizugaki was killing him on the inside. There were more than a few exchanges that had me thinking "oh sh*t Torres is F*cked". I want to see a rematch sometime in the future.
My name is Frank Mir and yes... Says:
I'd love to fuck Miguel Torres
Hamma Fist Elbow Says:
I totally agree - Mizugaki was landing some heavy shots that staggered Torres, whereas Torres was landing lots of punches but Mizugaki never seemed hurt. Mir's commentary was ridiculously biased.
AG Says:
Mir drove me crazy during that fight. It was way closer than he made it out to be. Almost nothing positive was said about Mizugaki and he was fighting a great fight.
emo sux Says:
torres staggered? yeah, he took some punishment, but i didnt see much staggering in this fight... from either side...
Anonymous Says:
I was there last night at the Pavilion, it was pretty amazing the crowd was going batshit crazy. At the beginning the boos were deafening when they announced Mizugaki by the end everyone was just cheering both fighters. Awesome.
merv Says:
also you could hear those elbows Torres was landing in the clinch in the upperdeck. vicious
Anonymous Says:
What the fuck fight were you watching?
That little jap might have won the first round, but torres killed him the rest of the fight.
Go shampoo your crotches if you think otherwise.
k Says:
Mir was ridiculous.
The fight was great for it's furious pace, but I think a FOTY should include more ground fighting (both grappling and striking). Torres' clinch work was excellent, though, so at least it wasn't just a kickboxing match.
Although if Griffin vs dos Anjos getting FOTN over Kampmann vs Condit is any indication, this could very well end up getting everyone's FOTY vote.
C-Bus Allstar Says:
All class. Torres is all fucking class.
VEe Says:
Takeya Mizugaki deserves all the praise and glory for taking a championship fight on short notice and pushing the champion to 5 rounds.
He clearly took the Round 1. I would definitely give him another round, but I don't remember which one. Round 5 was CLASSIC!!
While 10,000 bonus looks paltry compared to UFC Fight of the Night bonuses, don't forget that this bonus money is not contractually guaranteed.
Get over it!
Mir's commentary was a bit exaggerated.
Torres P4P??
He appears to be the most versatile MMA fighter that I've ever seen.
Doesn't have a mental lapse like GSP against Serra.
His record is better than Fedors.
And he doesn't get easily submitted like Anderson Silva earlier in his career.
I wonder what will happen if he goes up in weight?
825IVER Says:
i think Takeya won it. Everytime Frank would say something about Miguel I was wondering if he was watching the same fight I was watching.
norremo Says:
Awesome night of fights. WEC really has it together, great production and match making.
Now if only Assliction could do half as good of a job
Brandon Says:
Mir's commentary was ridiculous! Re-watch the beginning of round 4. Misugaki catches Torres with a left hook, and then another which forces Torres to 'desperation shoot'.
Both commentators completely silent.
MKO Says:
Great fight. Not sure if it was better than Torres-Maeda, but definitely a lot closer. Round 1 was all Mizugaki, and I think Torres barely stole the second round with knees at the end, and I think round four was a toss-up. Great show, really want to see more of Mizugaki, and damn, good to know that Torres can take that much of a beating and shake it off. Completely ate a few knees and barely wobbled.
Sneaky Pete Says:
I'll put $50 on Ralph F-ing Macchio!
@ Agent smith Says:
Probably one of the smarter things i've read and never thought about.
Ample Says:
@ Hamma Fist Elbow,
I dont hate on Mir at all, but i totally agree with you.
Jesus christ, when Jeff Curran was getting his ass whooped by Benavidez all i could hear was how "excellent currans gaurd is and how he's avoiding most of the punishment" and "how he has heart to recover from a heavy hit and keep his gaurd active"
Really no commentary and how ruthless, quick and precises Benavidez was. A couple "well you can tell he's been training with Urijah Faber" comments but that was it.
Anonymous Says:
frank mir was sucking miguel's dick so hard
ROBOT Says:
definately one of the best fights i've seen in ah minute!!!! non-stop from both fighters!! big ups to Takeya for hangn with Miguel the way he did i definately underestimated his skill level and thought he would'nt last past the 3rd round, and wonder if we'll see him again anytime soon!! shit gotta little scary for torres after the cut over his right eye but he maintatined and pushed through!!
Anonymous Says:
WoW. Fight of the fucking Year, Holy shit, the rest of the cards this year have a tough act to follow. 10K bonus is a joke!
DDT Says:
If that ends up being fight of the year I'm gonna be real sad. That was a good fight but neither fighter ever really got hurt. Great fights either have a stoppage or a close stoppage. I like to see guys get close to finished and then hang on.
The Cerrone/Varner fight was better (except for how it ended obviously). I kind of find myself questioning Torres' power. He hit that dude with everything a bunch of times and hardly left a mark on him.
I thought the Curran fight was pretty freaking sweet. The dude that beat him should get the next shot Torres (can't remember his stupid name).
DDT Says:
Benavidez That's the guy. He's a stud. Too bad Mir couldn't be bothered to talk about the insane shit he was doing. Frank Mir is such an f'ing homer. What a chump. I can't wait until Lesnar pounds his head into the mat.
MMA FAN Says:
Then again reaction is extremely affected by weight. don't worry, once torres moves up in weight will get to see how he would do
badcat Says:
LET ME START BY SAYING TORRES IS IN THE TOP 5 IN THE WORLD, WE CAN PLAINLY SEE MIR IS ALSO PAID TO BLOW THE CHAMP.I WAS SITTING ABOUT 10' TO MIRS RIGHT AND I AM SURE WE WERE WATCHING DIFFERENT FIGHTS. TAKEYA WOULD HAVE WON THAT FIGHT IF IT WASNT THEIR GOLDEN BOY. MY WIVES HAIR SALON [ TOUCHE' SALON ] SPONSORED TAKEYA HE WILL BE BACK. GREAT MATCH UPS I THOUGHT MIR WAS VERY BIAS.FRANK I THINK YOU KNOW WHO AM DONT KICK MY ASS,I THINK YOUR GAME HAS INPROVED HUGE I WILL ROOT FOR YOU AGAINST LESNER, BUT YOUR COMMETARY SUCKED.I WOULD TO GIVE PROPS TO JAMEEL WHO TOOK SOME MAJOR RIGHT HANDS AND NEVER GAVE UP PAY ATT. FIGHT FANS THIS GUYS A WARRIOR HE WILL BE BACK. D MAN
Gorgzilla Says:
Later that night Frank Mir got arrested for soliciting by the vice branch of the local police departement!
Anonymous Says:
badcat,
Please learn to use punctuation and turn off your caps when you write a message in any forum so that we can understand what you are saying also pay attention to your spelling and grammar and organize your ideas in your head before you write so that you make some sense to the rest of us and don't be afraid about Frank Mir kicking your ass oh and I forgot that you should divide your ideas in paragraphs to make your note more clear I know you want to be part of the great writers like me and the other intellectuals that contribute to these forums during our paid time and I hope you are not getting offended for what I'm saying because i was sitting close to you at the show and could hear Mir's remarks so biased you should be quit and should not be paying all that money to seat so close to the cage since saliva or sweat drops can fly to your drink and end up in your system and you may get infected by herpes or some other disease the fighters may be carrying see you later alligator