In one of the biggest MMA upsets of the year, Brian Bowles defeated Miguel Torres Sunday night at WEC 42, winning the bantamweight title with a shocking first-round knockout."I was just confident that I could win," Bowles said. "I convinced myself that I could beat him."
Bowles was patient in the early going, barely even trying to go on the offensive for the first minute of the fight. But Bowles landed a hard right hand that knocked Torres down in the second minute of the first round, and after that Torres looked like he was wobbly.
Bowles later took Torres to the ground and landed some strikes, and when they stood back up, Bowles knocked Torres to the ground once again, this time landing several more punches to Torres' face while the two were on the ground, eventually knocking Torres out cold.
To see Torres unconscious on the canvas is an absolutely stunning sight; Torres came into the fight with a 37-1 record, and the only loss was by decision. Now he's 37-2, and no one will be calling him the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world anymore.Bowles, however, has just become a star among MMA fans. He's still relatively inexperienced, with an 8-0 record -- but one of those eight is against Torres, and that makes Bowles the bantamweight champion of the world. It's a championship that Bowles doesn't plan to relinquish any time soon.
"I won this belt," Bowles said. "I earned it, and I want to keep on defending it."
WEC 42 Images
Miguel Torres and Brian Bowles stare each other down before their bantamweight title match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Miguel Torres punches Brian Bowles during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres during their match at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles celebrates his victory at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Brian Bowles celebrates his victory at WEC 42 in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2009.
Josh Hedges, WEC
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
I do not believe what just happen
I know. That was just insane. There was no fluke to that one though. That was FOR REALZ.
Brian freaking Bowles.
That truly shocked me. He didn't just beat him up ... he beat him down. WOW. What a fight.
I guess we will see Mitsugaki vs Bowles next ... what power that Bowles has. OH MAN WAS THAT EPIC!!!!
What a shocker.
check out my response to niv
wow great KO.
That was insane.. I didn't think Bowles standed a chance against Torres, especially in the stand up. Brian Bowles took some hard punches before he landed that hard right hook that knocked Torres down, so I agree with what people say about Bowles having a granite chin; its true. What a fight!!!
Wow, that reminded me over Arlovski when he was actually good, rushing in on Sylvia overconfident, only to get blasted.
Torres had him in trouble, but got careless, esp considering Bowles had rocked him in the beginning.
Incredible fight tonight, and congrats to Bowles for the belt!
Man something told me this was gonna happen i just knew it
See. Now only Fedor is really left to be exposed.
Torres had a BETTER record than Fedor. And yet...a decent 8-0 guy just K'd him the FO.
This is what happens when you are allowed to pad your record with mediocre fighters. Eventually you start facing REAL competition and you eventually lose.
Hats off and may HUGE thanks go out to people like Torres though that don't run from the competition. He want's to prove he's the best. Well fight the best. Thing is...who is really at 135 anyway? The caliber of competition (due to bigger paydays in higher classes)isn't the same YET at the lower weight classes.
Then there are those like Fedor...who will do their best to dodge legit competition. I can't WAIT till someone takes that fake down.
Silva..I believe could EASILY take our Fedor. I think Forrest could take out Fedor to be honest.
But we'll never see it because Fedor is...a b*tch.
Enough with the Fedor stuff already. It's just blatant trolling. Every fighter [no matter how good or dominant] gets caught in a slick submission or [gets caught with] a flush punch.
Fedor got rocked hard by Fujita in Pride and was doing the chicken dance where his legs turned to noodles. The thing is he clinched, recovered, took the fight to the ground and finished Fujita.
Anderson Silva was dominating Ryo Chonan in a Pride fight as well and ended up getting caught in the craziest submission in MMA. Chonan did a flying leg scissor into a heel hook that made Silva tap in a few seconds.
You probably remember Matt Serra catching GSP with a big right hand a few years back. Then, Serra stayed on him and hit a few more bombs before the referee stepped in and called off the fight.
Look at how Mir caught Lesnar in that knee bar in their first fight. Lesnar was doing the Donkey Kong on Mir's head and gt caught ... doesn't mean he doesn't have the ability to be a top HW fighter.
Say what you want about Fedor ducking top fighters but the fact remains his last 3 scheduled fights (Sylvia, Arlovski & Barnett) were all against the #2 ranked HW in the world at the time they were signed. Fedor isn't ducking any opponent.
The fact that Torres lost doesn't mean he isn't still a world class and top P4P fighter. It just means he took a tough loss.
The point is we don't need to bring up Fedor in every friggin article. He is in Strikeforce! Deal With and lets just let everything take it's course.
thank you brian , you just won me a bundle !i KNEW you would knock his cocky ass out . just the way i bet it !frank mir was saying that torres was the best pound for pound mma fighter born in the U.S.A. , well guess again mister mir . there's a new kid in town . and HE earned that title as well .
How can this be?
My Angel defeated.
Impossible.
Brian Bowles is my man I remember seeing the last fight Torres had and almost got his azz beat by this japanese dude. So Brian saw the same thing I saw stay on him with the Bee's
Wow. Just, wow. Bowles is phenominal, but I don't think too many people expected that.
Hey Johnny it seems today I'm just enjoying your commentary.
You're absolutely right, what does Fedor have to do with this fight anyway?
Miguel Torres is still a great fighter, but Brian Bowles was clearly better last night.
Anderson Silva was a great fighter before he came to the UFC, but of course half the people here never heard of him before he beat up Chris Leben.
Regardless I had a gut feeling about Bowles last night and it was a fantastic win on his part.
Good for Bowles I have a feeling he's going to hold onto that belt for a while.
you're right,
now that we're pals, i think i've influenced his logic. har,har.
oh yeah, and i'm glad the guy next to mir mentioned the, "reminds me of mike brown". because i was thinking the same exact thing. he sort of even looks like him, his eyes or something.
and not that he ever reads these, but way to pick em MDS.
this was a great card from top to bottom with great matches. it totally blew away sat nites card.
i thought ufc 101 was one of the lame'st cards zuffa has ever put on.
i didn't really care about any of the fights, to me, none were compelling and the 2 main events were anti climactic, barely contested.
i've seen fight nights that were better.
that was a great fight , we will see how this plays out he still needs to defend that belt , any one can get ko or submited at any time in this sport that is what makes this sport great
neozoo, that's funny that you mentioned that Mike Brown thing because that was exactly what I was thinking watching the fight.
I don't know how you hit a defenseless guy who is clearly knocked out repeatedly on the mat. This sport is starting to turn me off. Late stop by the ref and Bowles went too far. Just look at the photo where Miguel is not defending himself while Bowles winds up.