Can Brian Bowles beat Miguel Torres and become WEC Bantamweight champion?
Published by Zach Arnold on July 3rd, 2009 in Current Events

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It was a title fight that was supposed to happen on April 5th in Chicago. As if Brian Bowles needed any more disadvantages going into a fight against mega-ace Miguel Torres, he ended up getting hurt in training.

“I compressed my L4, L5, you know, I was just wrestling light, shot in, somebody sprawled on me, I heard it pop, and you know I sat out for like five minutes and as soon as I started pulling down, it was bad. I couldn’t even move.”

Despite an impressive 7-0 record in MMA competition, Brian Bowles has the deck stacked against him when he faces Miguel Torres next month. Bowles recently did an interview for the Versus web page talking about recovering from his back injury and how it will impact his title fight on August 9th in Las Vegas against Torres.

“The back’s feeling real good. You know, I’ve got it you know I think it’s 100%. It’s better than it ever has been. It’s ready to go.”

It’s one thing to say that you’re ready, but it’s another thing to have the injury linger in the back of your mind.

“No, the injury’s always there, you know, I rehab it every day, I’m doing all I can to strengthen my back, strength my core, so it won’t happen again, you know I got avoid positions, you know, I can’t just recklessly just pick people up and you know it’s always in my mind but you know I’m 100% confident that it’s ready to go, though.”

Bowles was originally supposed to fight Torres in Miguel’s hometown of Chicago on April 5th. Then the back injury happened and Takeya Mizugaki replaced Bowles. Mizugaki put on a classic performance against Torres, and it was the kind of performance that can potentially make you a household name. All Brian Bowles could do was sit and watch the fight.

“Ah man, it was, it made my hair stand up to see him come out, you know, I wanted it to be, when I got injured you know it was like it was depressing, you know, I hated to call the WEC and let them know that I had to back out, you know it was a long road to earn the fight and to have to back out you know it was a nightmare. It sucked bad.”

It may have sucked to watch, but in the end Bowles was happy with Miguel winning.

“You know I would have rather fought Miguel, he’s got a bigger name, you know, a win from him on my record would be huge. Yeah, I was definitely looking forward to fighting him, you know, in my mind I’ve been preparing to fight him and just being mentally and physically preparing to fight him and I was really looking forward to fighting him.”

Bowles will need all the help he can get when preparing for the upcoming fight. Mizugaki put the pressure on Torres and stood toe-to-toe with him for five rounds. It was an amazing fight performance. It also highlighted just how tough and dangerous Torres is as a man and as a fighter.

“Torres is a case where his physical skills line-up with what he’s actually good at,” Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen recently stated in an interview with us. “He’s got his naturally dynamic, aggressive submission game and an unwieldy set of long limbs that assists in that. Also, the fact that he’s brilliant on the ground and really learned well under Carlson Gracie, which means he’s been able to take more time as he became the head of the class to work on his stand-up and really improve there.”

When Bowles watched Mizugaki fight Torres and extend him the distance (a full five rounds), did the Japanese fighter show the world a game plan on how to beat the champion?

“Kinda,” Bowles softly stated. “You know, he showed some weaknesses. I think he just fights like he fought, you know, and the fight didn’t work out to his advantage but he definitely showed some holes in Miguel’s game.”

Torres, in a recent Versus official web site interview, said that Mizugaki’s strategy may have worked on April 5th, but it isn’t going to work any more as a blueprint.

“I think he tried to [create a blueprint]. I think the next guy that I fight that tries that kind of a style’s going to get knocked out. Takeya was abnormal. I was hitting him with knockout shots and knees to the body that would drop anybody and he took an abnormal amount of punishment, you know. Normally, I always thought that it was going to be a guy that has the toughness that I have, I just haven’t met him yet and I met him in Takeya, so there are very few far and between but the next time I fight him or I fight somebody as tough as him I’m going to knock him out for sure.”

“I did underestimate him. I was doing so many promo for the fight because it was in my hometown. I wasn’t getting sleep, training was kind of getting rough, I was training at like 2 in the morning, so I mean there’s a lot of little things people don’t know about. But there’s no excuse — Takeya came, you know, he came with a great game plan. He came with a strong chin and a big right hand and I give him a lot of credit. He fought with his heart and I love guys that fight that way. For me, the fight was perfect. The fact he didn’t get finished was perfect.”

“I’ve watched that fight a thousand times already. I thought I performed very well. First round I gave it up, start using my jab and he was ready for it with a right hand. So I was trying to get his rhythm a little bit, second round I came out good. Third round he cut me, and after he cut me I kinda went crazy, so… that fight taught me two things: 1) I gotta switch my game up every now and then because guys get used to a certain style that I fight with. 2) I’m tough as shit, man.”

Breen said that Bowles doesn’t have the same skills as Mizugaki to pull off a similar kind of performance against Torres.

“[Mizugaki] jabs hard and moves his head better. Bowles straight runs at guys throwing punches, so if Miguel is gonna jab, it’s just linear geometry that he’s gonna get hit in the face. Mizugaki-Torres was essentially a kickboxing bout. Even though Bowles likes to punch, he always ends up wanting to take guys down. That’s really where he closes guys out, but Torres is going to be too dynamic in the sweep and submission department.”

As both Bowles and Torres gain spotlight and notoriety as fighters, the two men are having to get used to the limelight. In the case of Brian Bowles, it’s learning the act of trash talking and PR.

“You know, I’m getting more and more used to it. It doesn’t really bother me to do it but I’m just not all that great at it but yeah, I’m getting more and more comfortable with it every day.”

When Torres faced Mizugaki in Chicago, the hometown advantage turned into a disadvantage according to the champ.

“You know what, it’s not even really the pressure, it’s just everything you have to put up with. You know, you do double the promos, I speak Spanish and English so I gotta do promos in English and I gotta do promos in Spanish and it’s double because it’s in my hometown and it’s a title fight, it’s a main event fight. Everyone that you know is going to come out of the woodwork, they want tickets, they want to talk, they just want a piece of your time because they know you and they want to feel special. It’s just rough. It gets pretty rough.”

How’s life as an MMA superstar right now?

“You know the reaction is different. I’m the same person I’ve always been, nothing’s changed about me, it’s just that I’m getting more recognition for what I do now. For me, it’s a big plus because it makes my life a little easier but at the same time it makes it a lot harder, too, so.”

Preparation for Brian Bowles won’t be any easier.

“You know I think Brian Bowles, out of all of the guys that I’ve fought think he’s one of the main guys that deserves his title shot. He beat the #2 Marcos Galvao, he beat Damacio Page, I mean he’s beat tough guys, guys that are very strong fighters. Brian has a strong right hand, a good left uppercut, and he’s got a great guillotine so he’s one of those fighters that can fight you anywhere. I’m looking forward to go out to a war with Brian, I want to do a big show with him.”

Are there any weaknesses that Torres, the best 135-pound fighter in the world, possesses? Jordan Breen says yes, but that the champion knows how to cover for them.

“He’s helped by the fact that his style and even the benefit of being a champ — fighting five rounds — helps camoflauge his weaknesses. Torres has absolutely putrid takedown defense. This guy can’t stop any man who gets a hold of his legs. However, he’s so active that he can win a round off of his back even if he can’t sweep or submit you. You can’t just go in hoping to lay on him because of that. Even if you were able to stifle his guard game, you would have to do it for 25 minutes and win at least three of those five rounds, which is a much taller task than winning two out of three over 15 minutes.”

Does Bowles have a chance of pulling off the upset and becoming the new WEC Bantamweight champion?

“Bowles does a great job at being accurate and he’s got power. I just think Bowles is a B+ guy in all areas who has really been able to just be a good fighter and capitalize on the weaknesses of the guys he’s fought as any MMA fighter should.”

“I think asking him to avoid submissions over 25 minutes from Torres is just a little too much.”

If you talk to both fighters, neither man thinks that the fight is going to a decision.

“I’m winning by knockout,” Bowles exclaimed.

“Knockout in the first round or submission in the second round,” stated a confident Torres.

Win or lose, Miguel Torres is clearly the king of 135 pounders and has recently stated in a radio interview with Steve Cofield that he would like to help build up the 135 pound division the same way Urijah Faber has helped build up the 145 pound division in terms of popularity. So, where does the champion see himself right now in terms of his fighting career and his philosophy as an active competitor?

“You know what, I don’t think I have anything to prove. I think for me being the champ and having the belt is extra. I take every fight seperate. For me, every fight is an experience, it’s a moment in time that never gets to happen again. When I fight somebody I try to change their life, I want to change the way they think about fighting and the way they think about me and every fight’s seperate. I have nothing to prove to anybody except the guy I’m fighting.”