WEC 42 Preview: Miguel Torres and Brian Bowles Talk About Their Title Fight

Promoted from the FanPosts by Kid Nate.

The WEC Bantamweight Champion, Miguel Torres spoke about his upcoming fight against Brian Bowles:

The better my opponent is, the more I rise to the occasion. When my opponents come and they have a great game, it makes me better, makes me fight harder. I don't go out there to win fights, I go out there to break the spirit of my opponents. If my opponent has a strong spirit and a strong heart, it makes the fight better and more entertaining, but it makes me fight harder. I only hope Brian Bowles can come with that kind of a game.

I think Brian's real tough. He brings in a lot of danger. He's a heavy hitter. He can grapple well. His jiu-jitsu's strong. Out of everybody in the WEC right now, he's the most dangerous opponent I could face. At the same time, I think that layoff is going to hurt him a little bit.

Miguel Torres thinks that Brian Bowles is a dangerous opponent, but at 37-1, he believes that his experience will be a key factor in the fight:

The championship rounds are what make champions, champions. Brian's trained to be in those rounds, but he's never been in the situation in a regular fight. Before I was fighting for the WEC world bantamweight title or defending it, I was fighting in fights where I fight four times in one night, tournament style fights. Or I was fighting for over one hour in one night. I knew I could go the distance. I knew I've always been tested since the early days in my career, and Brian hasn't done that to my knowledge.

He doesn't have the experience that I have. I've been tested and proven and I know that plays into my confidence. I know I can go places that Brian Bowles has not been yet... I think what separates my camp from anyone else’s is that I spar every day, twice a day. So not only will I do a workout, but I'm also pushing myself to where I'm in a sparring situation. I'm fighting everybody twice a day, so just because I only have 37 fights or however many fights I have, I fight twice a day every day.

After recovering from the injury that forced him out of WEC 40, Brian Bowles feels that he is finally ready to get his chance to dethrone one of the top pound for pound fighters in the sport. He knows that Miguel has the edge in experience, but the undefeated fighter feels that he deserves this opportunity to fight for the title:

Ideally you would like to have more fights (before a title shot). I took some tough fights with some experienced guys. They were tough opponents, and I won handily. I didn’t go to a decision... It’s going to be an honor to fight for the belt. It’s an honor to fight against Miguel.

Brian Bowles is facing one of the most well rounded fighters in the sport, but he thinks that he's better in one area:

My only thought is Miguel Torres. He is one of the best fighters in the world and I have to be at a very high level to beat him. That’s all I’ve thought about for the last couple of months, what I could do that day to help me get better to beat Miguel Torres.

I have better wrestling, I think... Though he doesn’t really try to wrestle, to be honest. I don’t know. I just believe I’m going to win. It’s confidence in myself, that’s all.

Miguel Torres had this to say:

I’m happy that Brian’s very confident. It’s gonna make for a very great and a very exciting fight... I’ve been in the game long enough. I can smell fear, can smell doubt.... I’m the biggest test of his life.

WEC 42 already has fighters like Miguel Torres, Brian Bowles, Leonard Garcia, Joseph Benevidez, Takeya Mizugaki, Jeff Curran, Marcus Hicks and Ricardo Llamas on the card, and with the recent addition of LC Davis vs. Javier Vasquez, it certainly makes its case as one of the most stacked cards in WEC history.

In the main event, Miguel Torres probably has the overall skill and experience advantage, but what makes this interesting is that while both fighters are well rounded, Brian Bowles biggest strength is Miguel's biggest weakness

Can Brian's wrestling enable him to grind out a victory? Or will Miguel's jiu-jitsu neutralize his ground game?

HT: MMAWeekly, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo

Official WEC 42 Card:

Main Card:
Miguel Torres (37-1) vs. Brian Bowles (7-0)
Joseph Benvidez (10-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (13-1)
Ricardo Lamas (6-0) vs. Danny Castillo (7-1)
Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2) vs. Jeff Curran (29-11-1)

Preliminary Card:
Javier Vazquez (13-2) vs. LC Davis (13-2)
Leonard Garcia (12-4) vs. Jameel Massouh (21-5)
Fredson Paixao (8-3) vs. Cole Province (5-1)
Marcus Hicks (8-2) vs. Shane Roller (5-2)
Phil Cardella (8-3) vs. Ed Ratcliff (6-1)
John Hosman (13-4-1) vs. Rani Yahya (14-4)
Diego Nunes (12-0) vs. Rafael Dias (12-5-1)