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The Size Factor: Miguel Torres vs. Takeya Mizugaki

Miguel-torres_medium

Besides Bellator and Dream events this weekend, there is one other happening Sunday night, and that's WEC 40 from Chicago.  Of course, the main dish will be the bantamweight title fight between Miguel Torres, the champion, and Takeya Mizugaki, a veteran of Shooto and Cage Force.  In his coverage of the main event, Michael David Smith points out one of the reasons why Torres is so dominant at 135:

I also mean that Torres is much taller and has strikingly longer arms and legs than anyone else who fights at 135 pounds. That was very obvious on Friday, when the WEC brought together four of the best 135-pounders in the world for a press conference promoting Sunday night's WEC 40 event.

The height and reach difference between Torres and the other three -- his opponent, Takeya Mizugaki, plus Jeff Curran and Joseph Benavidez, who will square off in the co-main event -- was more apparent than their listed heights. Torres is listed at 5-foot-9, Mizugaki is listed at 5-7, Curran is listed at 5-6 and Benavidez is listed at 5-4.

But Torres has something of a stooped posture, and I think the real length of his frame is more like 5-foot-10 or 5-11. He also has long arms and legs, meaning the advantage his stature gives him in the cage is significantly greater than his two-inch height advantage over Mizugaki would suggest.

Torres is so skilled that he would likely be quite successful without the advantage that his length gives him.  However, I attach a lot of value to size, whether it's at bantamweight or heavyweight. Torres maximizes his length advantage with a dynamic striking game that emphasizes kicks. The champion's bottom game is dangerous enough that he worries little about being taken down and, thus, throws kicks at will. If the fight does hit the mat, he's able to threaten with submissions from his back.  No doubt, his frame aides him on the ground as well.

In viewing some footage on Mizugaki, it's evident that he likes to push the pace of fights - much like the champion.  He possesses some vicious ground striking and is generally a dominant fighter when in top position.  Mizugaki has demonstrated some decent punching power while standing, but has also shown a less than iron chin.  Torres can definitely hurt him standing as I think his standup is more formidable on the whole.  While Mizugaki likes to rain down punches from top position, Torres' jiu-jitsu will make getting there and then staying out of a submission challenging.

All in all, Mizugaki appears to be a game opponent who shouldn't be overlooked, but this is the champion's fight to lose.  Mizugaki has been training with larger guys to prepare for the upcoming match.  However, it's doubtful than any of them can accurately replicate the skillset of Miguel Torres.

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He’s also technically unsound in his standup defense. He keeps his chin high and hands down to an extent, and it’s been exposed in multiple fights. Fortunately, he has some decent recovery ability and can fall back on his power top control to win. Torres won’t allow that to happen.

Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com

by Leland Roling on Apr 4, 2009 9:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I did notice that. I’m glad you mentioned it.

by Cannon Jacques on Apr 4, 2009 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It’s one of the things I focus on when I’m breaking these fights down. It’s one of the main reasons why my betting habits have really went north in terms of money. Breaking down styles and looking at the technical things they do during fights really pays off.

With that said, Mizugaki has a technical problem in his standup. He needs to keep his chin low and hands up at all times, and he almost never does. If he’s corrected that, it may be a solid fight, but if not, I think Torres will catch him hard.

Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com

by Leland Roling on Apr 4, 2009 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Also, and I know Breen mentioned this on the roundtable but it deserves to be repeated here, Mizugaki himself noted that Japanese fighters have had a disadvantage striking against others.

"One thing in particular I’ve also been working on is striking distance," Mizugaki said. "In Japan, striking often happens in close, but abroad it seems that most Japanese fighters get knocked out from a distance, in particular with the straight punch. I’ve worked to adapt myself to that distance."
Even with his work in this area, I can’t imagine a worse matchup for him given that Torres has the wingspan of an Albatross.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 4, 2009 9:31 PM EDT reply actions   1 recs

All the training inth world can't fix genetics....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V49q2IdQOyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWipHOmE_jo

From what I can see all of Mizugaki’s power punches are concentrated on the inside. Unless he somehow gets power comparable to Rocky Marciano and speed resembling something out of a video game, Torres will walk through him like he did Tapia.

by Deo Wade on Apr 5, 2009 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

On a side note, 135 lbs is fucking tiny, isn’t it?

by subo on Apr 4, 2009 9:33 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, it is.

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 4, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

it is

I’m a very small dude — 5’6" 160 — and when I met Mike Easton I couldn’t believe how small he was. I mean he’s physically intimidating because he’s so wiry and obviously fit, but he’s also SMALL.
Same with Urijah Faber.

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 4, 2009 9:52 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

When I interviewed Torres for UGO.com, I had the opposite reaction.

http://www.ugo.com/sports/ufc-90-interviews/?cur=miguel-torres-interview

 The guy was surprisingly big. I’m 6-1 and he wasn’t much shorter than me.

by Jonathan Snowden on Apr 4, 2009 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Besides Bellator and Dream events this weekend, there is one other happening Sunday night,

Wrestlemania at Reliant Stadium here in my hometown of Houston? :P

Umm, War…..HHH? lol

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."

by xFenixKnightx on Apr 4, 2009 9:37 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Good God.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 4, 2009 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That is pretty amazing.

by Cannon Jacques on Apr 4, 2009 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Nice!

Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."

by xFenixKnightx on Apr 4, 2009 9:45 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

could anyone do the math

to scale it out — like if Torres was a heavyweight how tall would he be? what would his reach be?

"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"

by Kid Nate on Apr 4, 2009 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If you maintain the same pounds per inch tall, he’d be like 11’4" at 265 pounds, but that’s not really what it’d be comparable to.

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 4, 2009 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Torres is 2.6" or 6.6 cm taller than the average WEC bantamweight (66.3" or 168.4 cm).

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 4, 2009 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

So assuming I'm not too tired to do math...

The average UFC heavyweight is 74.8" or 190.1 cm. So if Torres were scaled to that, he’d be 77.8" or 197.6 cm.

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 4, 2009 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

6’6" really doesn’t seem that huge for the division… meh

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 4, 2009 10:24 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

The average weight at heavyweight in the UFC is 241 lb or 109 kg, btw. Obviously, everyone at bantamweight weighs in at 135 lb.

Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

by Richard Wade on Apr 4, 2009 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

He would have a 7’1" wingspan though..

by bigweeze on Apr 5, 2009 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah...

I went through every different method I could think of to try and average it out to show how much taller he would be than the average heavyweight in the UFC and he does come out to right around that 77.8" area. So It doesn’t really scale to being “huge” height wise that I can see but you have to figure that heavyweight has such large fluctuations with REALLY tall guys that it can throw it off.

Scaling his height to LHW would be much more interesting to me as not having 60 lbs of fluctuation would likely make it much more obvious how huge he’d be for another weight class. Unfortunately I don’t know the average height of UFC LHW’s otherwise I could do the match.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/

by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 4, 2009 11:05 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If Miguel Torres were 265 lbs.

If he retained the exact same body proportions at 265 lbs., this is what Miguel Torres’ height and reach would be, with math included.

(135/265)^(1/3) ≈ 1.2521

height = 1.2521 * 5’9" ≈ 7’2.4"

reach = 1.2521 * 76" ≈ 95.1"

For comparison, 7’7" ex-NBA player Manute Bol, for comparison, has a 90" reach, the largest in NBA history.

Miguel Torres’ nickname should be Dhalsim.

by Chromium on Apr 5, 2009 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

^^minor correction:
That first line should read as
(265/135)(1/3) ≈ 1.2521

by Chromium on Apr 5, 2009 2:08 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If Miguel Torres were 241 lbs.

And he retained the exact same body proportions, he would be, with math included:
(241/135)^(1/3) ≈ 1.2131

Height = 1.2131 * 5’9" ≈ 6’11.7"

Reach = 1.2131 * 76" ≈ 92.2" reach

by Chromium on Apr 5, 2009 2:17 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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