How do these two stack up?
Torres: 30 years old | 5'9" | 76" reach
Johnson: 24 years old | 5'3" | 66" reach
What have these two done recently?
Torres: W - Antonio Banuelos (UD) | W - Charlie Valencia (SUB) | L - Joseph Benavidez (SUB)
Johnson: W - Kid Yamamoto (UD) | W - Damacio Page (SUB) | W - Nick Pace (UD)
How did these two get here?
Miguel Angel Torres is one of the pioneers at bantamweight, going 32-1 in local promotions before getting the call to come over and fight in the WEC. After submitting Jeff Bedard in his debut, he was plugged right into a bantamweight title fight with champion Chase Beebe, from which he emerged victorious in less than four minutes. Torres defended his title three times, and two of his title fights were candidates of fight of the year. Finally he stepped into the cage with Brian Bowles, and ended up getting knocked out for the first time in his career in a back-and-forth war. He sunk even lower in the aftermath, getting submitted for the first time in his career by Joseph Benavidez at WEC 47. Torres managed to turn it around with one more WEC win and a move to the vaunted Tri-Star Gym, where Firas Zahabi taught him how to use his length. In his UFC debut, he jabbed his way to victory over alligator-armed Antonio Banuelos at UFC 126.
Demetrious Johnson isn't even fighting in his natural division, but he's defying the odds and mowing down the competition. After opening his WEC campaign with a decision loss to the much-bigger Brad Pickett, Johnson has reeled off three straight wins, including a decision win over Japanese superstar Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto in his last outing. He was scheduled to face Renan Barao on this card, but an injury to Brad Pickett forced some re-shuffling and led to this excellent matchup.
Why should you care?
If you're ever going to care about the bantamweight division, this is probably one of the fights that will guide you down that path. Both of these guys are high-output fighters with a gift for excitement, and there's almost no chance of this being boring.
