The longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt at his peak mixed the martial arts as well as any of his peers, as he won 37 of his first 38 professional fights and landed on the vast majority of reputable pound-for-pound lists during his prime. Torres retired in 2017 with a career record of 44-9 that included runs in the World Extreme Cagefighting, Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Series of Fighting organizations. He made what was his final appearance on Sept. 24, 2016, when he submitted Lloyd Carter with a guillotine choke in the first round of their United Combat League “Havoc in Hammond 3” main event.
With Torres’ exploits becoming more and more of a distant memory, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. Hoosier blood runs through his veins.
Torres was born on Jan. 18, 1981 in East Chicago, Indiana—a city of some 30,000 people nestled in the northwest corner of the state. He shares a hometown with Gregg Popovich, who has coached the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA championships.
2. He was a wunderkind.
A protégé of the late Carlson Gracie, Torres made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 19 when he punched out Larry Pulliam in 10 seconds at a Finke’s Full Contact Challenge event on March 27, 2000. He compiled a perfect 9-0 record as a teenager.
3. He belongs to an exclusive club.
Torres was one of five men to capture the WEC bantamweight championship. Eddie Wineland, Chase Beebe, Brian Bowles and Dominick Cruz were the others. He laid claim to the 135-pound title with a guillotine choke submission of Beebe at WEC 32 on Feb. 13, 2008 and retained it on three different occasions—he turned away Yoshiro Maeda, Manny Tapia and Takeya Mizugaki in succession—before surrendering it in a knockout loss to Bowles at WEC 42 on Aug. 9, 2009.
4. Judges were rarely involved in his affairs.
A prodigious offensive talent, Torres carried a career finish rate of 77%. He secured 20 of his 44 victories by submission and 14 more by knockout or technical knockout. The triangle choke was his most trusted weapon, as he utilized it to dismiss eight opponents.
5. His travels were limited.
Only two of Torres’ 53 professional bouts took place outside the continental United States. He took a split decision from Takahiro Ashida in the Rebel Fighting Championship 2 main event on Aug. 1, 2014 in Marina Bay, Singapore, and submitted to a second-round brabo choke from Kleber Koike Erbst in the Rebel Fighting Championship 3 co-feature on June 27, 2015 in Qingdao, China. In fact, 34 of Torres’ 51 other bouts went down in his home state of Indiana.