WEC 40: The Miguel Torres Show
Published by Jim Genia on April 4th, 2009 in Current Events

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It’s not just that Miguel Torres is the WEC’s 135-pound champ and considered the best in his weight class, it’s that no one has really even come close to defeating him. Sunday night’s fight fare will be another installment of the WEC – WEC 40: “Torres vs. Mizugaki” to be exact – and as the name implies, it’s another chance for fans and pundits around the world to gaze upon the greatest mullet-sporting fighter of our time. How will the man with 36 wins and only one loss on his record claim his victory this time? As he did with Manny Tapia and Yoshiro Maeda, will Torres use his superior striking to pick apart Shooto and Cage Force veteran Takeya Mizugaki on the feet? Or, as he did with Chase Beebe and Jeff Bedard, will Torres draw upon his superior submission game and force the Japanese wrestler to tap out? Does it matter? As usual, Torres is going to enter the cage in the UIC Pavilion in Chicago with his belt, and he’s going to leave with it not long after.

Although Torres may have the bantamweight belt well secured, top contender status is pretty much up for grabs. Enter aging jiu-jitsu ace Jeff Curran, making his 135-pound debut, and Joseph Benavidez, wrestler and training partner to Urijah Faber. Curran didn’t have much luck taking on Faber for the 145-pound title back at WEC 31, but his edge in experience should play a deciding factor when he and Benavidez clash. Look for him to snag a submission at some point, and when he meets up with Torres down the road, look for him to get forced into retirement.

As featherweight match-ups go, American Top Team ground specialist Rafael Assuncao could have had a tougher one, but apparently someone up there likes him, as WEC 40 will see him paired up against an experienced but overmatched Jameel Massouh. Massouh has racked up wins against mediocre talent in Pancrase and back home in Wisconsin’s Freestyle Combat Challenge, but Assuncao… Assuncao has epic grappling skills that have enabled him to defeat the likes of Joe Lauzon and Jorge Masvidal in his career. He’s going to get Massouh down and tie him in a knot.

At lightweight, Shane Roller and Benson Henderson will be two of the heaviest fighters on the card – but don’t expect heavyweight fireworks. Roller is an up-and-comer with solid wrestling and Henderson a lanky, submission-savvy scrapper. The smart money is on Roller, who’s beaten tougher competition in Mike Budnik and Todd Moore; however, with both men on the low end of the 155-pound weight class totem pole, a win or loss for either man won’t be earth-shattering.

There are, inexplicably, superior fighters lingering in the darkness of the preliminary bouts. Former IFL lightweight star Bart Palaszewski will be playing the role of last-minute replacement to take on no-namer Anthony Njokuani, bantamweight jiu-jitsu master Rani Yahya will be squaring off against the always-dangerous Eddie Wineland, and IFL featherweight monster Wagnney Fabiano will meet Fredson Paixao in the cage. Why these bouts are on the undercard defies logic. Hopefully, there will be time on the “Miguel Torres Show” for some of these match-ups to be shown.