Manuel Torres scored the greatest victory of his career at the UFC Mexico, but the arrival was not without controversy.
It was not a question of knowing if Torres deserved his victory in the first round on Drew Dober, because Torres had seriously injured with a right hand and made sure to conclude the agreement with a series of hammer fists. But the time of judgment caused certain criticisms against referee Mike Beltran.
The UFC Lightweight Renato Moicano commented on social media, “if he dies, he dies”, referring to the infamous Rocky 4 Scene where Apollo Creed is killed in a fight by Ivan Draco.
At the evening post-combat press conference, Torres was asked about controversy.
“If you look at the replay, looking at the referee, like, I do a lot of damage to my opponent, but he did not stop the fight, so I am a professional, so I continue to do it,” said Torres via a Spanish translator. “But yes, of course, I feel that my opponent, he was a little down before the stop.”
Although Torres recognized that he thought that the fight could have been stopped earlier, he also stressed that Beltran may have had the misfortune to be in a position where he could not correctly assess the state of Dober. The fence sequence saw Torres hitting Dober with unprotected hammer fists, with Dober’s face only partially visible while he was clinging to the leg of torres.
However, it seemed that there was more visually enough for Beltran to call the fight. Torres does not blame him for the error.
“Just in some positions, it can happen,” said Torres. “In this one, of course, Drew Dober looked down, so for the referee, it was difficult to look at whether he had come out or not. But yes, I think they could work a little on this kind of thing, but he was just in a really specific position.”
Apart from continuing to fight, Torres had little control over the judgment, which was followed by Dober by recovering and relying, apparently unconscious of the fight.
Be that as it may, Torres put himself in position for a greater opportunity with four victories and four bonuses during his first five UFC appearances, and he hopes to be reserved for the newly announced UFC 320 event which should take place in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“The UFC has just announced the Mexican card on September 13, so of course, I want to be part of this event,” said Torres. “I feel that I do a lot in the name of Mexico and I would certainly like to fight in Mexico. With a top 15 fighter, with a top 15. ”
