On October 14th 2022, an unfamiliar European talent will compete stateside on Jorge Masvidal’s iKon Fighting Championship; a talent deserving of greater attention.
José Torres.
On paper, José “Pepe” Torres certainly possesses the credentials befitting of an exciting prospect. Indeed, the 26-year-old Spaniard is undefeated as a professional, boasting a 4-0 professional record. Hailing from Xàbia, Alicante, Torres trains out of Climent Club, the same gym as UFC athlete Ilia Topuria.
Yet the intrigue surrounding José Torres begins in his sophomore professional bout with Polish MMA promotion European Fight Masters.
Over 500 days after making his professional debut, Torres returned for his second professional bout in Łódź, Poland, against a formidable opponent in 2-1 Georgian Giorgi Esiava; Torres entered the Featherweight bout a moderate underdog.
Whilst Torres had his moments, Esiava was in more control of the first-round.
In the second round, however, Torres looked a completely different beast. It was complete dominance from the Spaniard, and within 2 minutes and 12 seconds, Torres claimed a TKO victory.
Admittedly, on the surface at least, it seems contradictory to promote an athlete based on the performance of a single bout in which the athlete lost the first round.
However, it was Torres’ ability to respond to such adversity, and the manner in which he responded, that renders him a dangerous fighter.
For Torres to flip a bout on its head in such ruthless fashion demands a certain degree of maturity and fight IQ; and that makes him exciting.
Torres’ opponent, Giorgi Esiava, is himself a huge talent. In fact, Torres is the last professional opponent to defeat Esiava; the Georgian is 4-0 since.
Torres followed the Esiava bout with a further two professional victories that both ended via first-round stoppage. At Mix Fight 48, Torres submitted fellow Spaniard Alberto Ibañez via guillotine choke; at WAR MMA, Torres defeated Colombian Jhonny Lopez via TKO.
The Spaniard now looks towards Jorge Masvidal’s iKon Fighting Championship 5 in Savannah, Georgia; undoubtedly his biggest platform to date.
Originally, Torres was set for a matchup with 4-1 Marcus McGhee at iKon FC 5. However, Torres will now compete against 4-1 Abdul Kamara.
With a win over Kamara, expect big things on the horizon for José Torres.
Photo sourced from www.abc.es
For those interested, you can watch the aforementioned José Torres vs Giorgi Esiava bout in full below (skip to 44:58); video courtesy of Kanał Sportowy via YouTube.
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