FIGHT OF THE YEAR: Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda at WEC 34
On a night built around Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver, it was Miguel Torres and Yoshiro Maeda who stole the show.
Pre-fight trash talk ignited fireworks at the start of round one. Torres especially came out with guns blazing, showing the fighting spirit of his Mexican heritage. The action spilled all around the cage with Maeda opening a cut on Torres’s forehead in the process.
The skirmish continued when the fight hit the floor. In a sequence that represented a microcosm of the bout, Torres and Maeda each locked on tight toeholds. Frank Mir’s commentary:
They both got toeholds on each other! This is symbolic of this fight! Both these guys are not gonna tap, they don’t care, they’re gonna give up both their own feet!
Torres mellowed out and began to find his rhythm as the fight wore on. He took advantage of his reach and utilized a healthy dose of jabs. Maeda’s left eye started to swell giving Torres a visible bulls eye to target.
Watching live, most fans gave no thought to the fight being stopped. When the telecast returned from commercial, however, the cameras caught Maeda laying on the ground as Torres came over to console him. Maeda’s eye had comletely swollen shut and the doctor was left with no choice but to stop the contest.
For Maeda, this fight will stand alone as the zenith of his career. With his quick submission loss to Rani Yahya, it’s unlikely for him to return to a championship bout. Meanwhile, this fight jumpstarted Torres toward MMA stardom.
2nd PLACE: Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson at UFC 86
3rd PLACE: Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen at DREAM 3