Miguel Torres Ready To Show New Style
Posted on 19 Apr 2012
by MMAScoops.com Staff

Former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres spoke with MMAJunkie about taking the time to reinvent himself and unveil a whole new style at UFC 145 when he faces Michael McDonald. Here are some highlights:

About learning a whole new system at Tri-star: "For me, it's all about learning a new style and not just strengthening my whole game but adapting it to my old style. When I went to train at Tri-star, it was a whole new system I was learning, a whole new way of boxing, a whole new way of striking. I had to change my whole style, but I had to prove to myself I could use that stuff. You see in a couple of fights, it was a totally different style."

On the added pressures that weighed him down: "That was the pressure of handling all the stuff that I had to take care of. It was not just fighting. Before, like in the old days in the Midwest, I'd wake up, go to the gym. I'd teach, I'd train, I'd sleep. I'd teach, I'd train again and I'd go to sleep. I'd get up and go to the gym and work out. I'd go for a run. All I had to focus on was my training. I'd teach on the side, but my only focus was training. That was when I was my most dangerous. Then when I got to the WEC and I started getting a little bit of fame. Then the fame started to grow, and I got the belt. I started traveling for sponsors and WEC and UFC and doing different things. I went from only training to training when I could and traveling because I had to. I didn't know I could say no at the time. I didn't have a mentor or a coach or somebody at the time that could tell me, 'Look, Miguel, you need to slow down a little bit. Don't do so much.'"

On his time away from the UFC: "When I was in the UFC and everything was good, I was training, and I didn't have a care in the world. Then I got out, and it was a huge difference – a night-and-day difference. You don't have that security of, 'When is my next fight?' There is no next fight. That's a huge, huge difference. You don't know what's going to happen. Being back, I have a newfound appreciation. It makes me think differently about the situation."

On what he's learned from his new training: "The main thing is just my distance control. I use my right hand now. I'm more aware of my distance. Before, I had no concept at all of distance. I would just rush you and throw caution to the wind. Now I have more distance control. I use my range better. I know how to exploit people's weaknesses better. I can listen better. Before, I didn't listen at all. People say, 'Oh, Miguel shouldn't have changed his game. He abandoned his old ways.' My old ways were reckless. It's easy to judge without you being in that situation. I didn't know what was wrong because it was working, and I had to totally change everything. I'm trying to adapt the new style to the old style, and that takes time."