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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
WEC Bantamweight Joseph Benavidez took on what he called the biggest fight of his career on Saturday night in Columbus, OH, when he faced off against former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres at WEC 47. He made the best of the opportunity, choking out Torres in the second round and leaving him a bloody mess.
Torres came out very tentative in the fight, and in contrast Benavidez was on his game. He got inside Torres range and connected on punches early in the round and used a fantastic hip toss to bring Torres to the ground, where he managed to keep him for the remainder of the round.
It was the second round, however, where Benavidez really turned it on. The two fighters traded strike attempts early on with little success before Benavidez surprised Torres with a quick shot and took him down. He dropped down a vicious elbow that cut Torres up badly, and then as Torres scrambled to his knees Benavidez locked on a guillotine choke and pulled to guard to lock it in tight.
With the choke in, Torres tried to roll Benavidez over. The grip wasn't loosening, however, and as Benavidez held tight the blood poured from Torres' head. After not losing a fight in 17 bouts before his loss to Brian Bowles last August, Torres was forced to tap and lost for the second consecutive time and only third time overall.
Benavidez set himself up for a shot at new Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, who won his Title in the main event over Bowles, in a rematch of their bout last August. Cruz took that fight by unanimous decision in what remains Benavidez's only defeat, but Benavidez performance on Saturday was at a different level than that bout, and the rematch will assuredly be a different looking fight.
FURTHER READING: To read Penick's full round by round event report, click here.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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