{"id":767901,"date":"2026-06-29T14:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/767901\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T14:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:07:09","slug":"whats-next-for-manuel-torres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/767901\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Next For Manuel Torres?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Coming into his matchup against sensational striker Rafael Fiziev, Torres was hoping to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/latest-news\/453044\/ufc-bakus-manuel-torres-wants-to-be-feared-like-mike-tyson-thats-how-you-become-the-best\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">lock down the biggest win of his career<\/a> in his first opportunity to headline an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event after starting off his career with the promotion with a respectable record of 5-1. Indeed, a win over Fiziev would have catapulted him into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-mma-rankings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top 10<\/a>, bringing him one step closer to a 155-pound title shot in what is probably the deepest weight class in the company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Unfortunately for the surging contender, he was unable to pass the big test.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Torres started the fight off pretty well, engaging with Fiziev &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/latest-news\/453950\/rafael-fiziev-admits-justin-gaethjes-historic-win-helped-him-regain-his-confidence-i-didnt-believe-in-myself-anymore\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who was in desperate need of a win<\/a> &#8212; in what was a pretty competitive first round. But, in the opening seconds of round two, Fiziev unleashed a well-executed spinning wheel kick that was partially blocked by Torres, though still powerful enough of an impact to send him crashing to the canvas. From there, \u201cAtaman\u201d jumped on his foe and unleashed one big bomb after another until the referee had no choice but to step in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">See the amazing finish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-paramount-plus-news-hub-fight-cards-schedule\/453670\/watch-ufc-baku-fight-video-highlights-results-paramount-fiziev-knockout-torres\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">And just like that, Torres\u2019 balloon of momentum was violently popped, sending him home with just the second loss of his UFC career (fourth overall).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">While a devastating defeat, it\u2019s not going to be one that sends him crashing on a downward spiral because losing to someone who has gone to war with current division champion, Justin Gaethje (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/2023\/3\/18\/23646194\/video-highlights-justin-gaethje-rafael-fiziev-ufc-286-results-espn-ppv-london-scorecard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">twice<\/a>), is nothing to hang your head low over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Torres, 31, is still young enough to make another run toward a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-mma-rankings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top 10<\/a> spot \u2026 and beyond. Sure, he was the one who got his finished this time, but he has proven to have skills in that area by earning 16 of his 17 wins via stoppage (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-323-fight-card-start-time-live-results-merab-vs-yan-2-mma\/407765\/watch-ufc-323-video-highlights-results-espn-ppv-las-vega-torres-knockout-dawson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nine knockouts, seven submissions<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">As far as what could be next for him, perhaps a fight against someone like Beneil Dariush is in order. The two men were initially set to throw down against each other at UFC 327 before Torres withdrew from the event with an injury. Dariush went on to face Quillan Salkilld in his next fight and got smoked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-paramount-plus-news-hub-fight-cards-schedule\/440475\/watch-ufc-perth-video-highlights-results-australia-paramount-salkilld-knockout-dariush\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">via technical knockout<\/a>. Since both men are coming off knockout defeats, it could be a good time to revisit this matchup. Dariush &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-news\/441280\/beneil-dariush-reacts-latest-knockout-loss-ufc-perth-fans-call-retirement-no-injuries\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">who had this to say regarding his last defeat<\/a> &#8212; is as experienced as they get and would be another nice test for the Mexican-born combatant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,179146,6656],"class_list":["post-767901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}