No Support: Miguel Torres Resumes His MMA Career Against His Family's Wishes

MMA fighter Miguel Torres’ most feared opponent is his mother. 

Following his first round loss to Brian Bowles, Torres was concerned about more than just losing the WEC bantamweight championship. He also had to worry about his mother's insistence he never fight again.

Torres' mother witnessed the violent knockout from the front row.

"I was very concerned about my mom," Torres said after losing his first fight in close to six years. “She was sitting in the front row to see that, and I just wanted to make sure she was ok."

At the four-minute mark, Bowles connected with a vicious right hook that floored the former champion. Following the shot, Bowles jumped on Torres to decisively finish the fight.

"There was nothing I could say," Torres said when asked how he approached his mother following the loss. "I apologized. I told her it was my fault. I reassured her that everything was ok.

"Nobody wants to see their child get knocked out like that. I don’t want to see her cry like that. I don’t want to see her crying. She was really hurt."

Sitting right next to Torres’ mother was his young daughter.

"I know she didn’t know what was going on, but I wanted to make sure she was fine as well."

Following the surprisingly one—sided defeat, Torres made sure he waited a substantial amount of time before returning to action.

"It was either fight right away and get a win under my belt, or take my time and reassess everything," Torres said. "I chose the second option.

"I focus now on training right, eating right, and surrounding myself with coaches that are dedicated to the fight game. It has made a huge difference."

Seven months have passed since the knockout loss. Torres is now set to get back into the cage, as he will be facing Joseph Benavidez. The match—up will take place March 6 on the Versus network.

"I think it’s a big fight," Torres said. "Joseph Benavidez is a very dangerous opponent. He’s super fast. He hits very hard. He’s a great wrestler."

Not to be understated is who Benavidez’s main training partner is. Benavidez is a close friend of former WEC featherweight champion and current WEC ratings king, Urijah Faber.

In the past, Torres and Faber talked about a potential dream match—up.

"Joseph Benavidez has the exact same style as Urijah," Torres said while analyzing his opponent. "This will be a good test for me to see how I would do with a mini Urijah Faber."

Shortly after Torres and Benavidez square—off, Faber and new featherweight champion Jose Aldo will headline the first ever WEC pay—per—view on April 24.

"I’ll be watching that fight closely," Torres said about the PPV main event. "I see myself fighting Jose Aldo, or I see myself fighting Urijah Faber in the future. For sure."

However, before Torres thinks about possible pay—per—view blockbusters, he first has to get past Benavidez. While Torres steps into the cage with a gaudy 37-2 record, Benavidez has also achieved a great deal of success in his young career.

Benavidez has amassed 11 victories in 12 fights. Within the 11 wins are victories over MMA veterans Rani Yahya and Jeff Curran. His lone loss came at the hands of the current number one contender to Brian Bowles, Dominick Cruz.

"I’m not looking past him at all," Torres said of Benavidez. "The keys to win this fight are simple: to stay elusive, to use my range, to use my timing. Don’t make it a slugfest, because that’s what he’s looking for.

"When I’m in the clinch, I need to stay aggressive, use my knees, and use my takedowns. Taking me to the ground would be the worst case for him."

Torres is certainly very confident entering the match—up.

"How I see it is that I have the advantage everywhere, but with these little gloves on, anything can happen."

Clearly, Torres is alluding to his last fight against Bowles. Even though he lost by KO in convincing fashion, Torres does not give Bowles a tremendous amount of credit.

"He caught me with a good punch," Torres said about the title loss. "Nine times out of 10 —on paper—I beat Brian Bowles, but that was that one time.

"I was way too aggressive. I was way too cocky. I didn’t train right. I was traveling. I did too much PR. I overlooked him and he caught me coming in. He wasn’t even looking when he threw the punch. He just caught me in the right part on my ear."

Regardless of Torres’ reasons for the loss, his mother will always have the visualization of seeing her son knocked out on the canvas.

"She told me to stop fighting and that if I did fight again, she will never go to a live event," Torres said. "She will never watch it on TV."

That, however, is not going to stop Torres from getting back into the cage. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

"I will use that as motivation for my next fight."

Torres’ match—up with Benavidez will be a very important one. With a victory, he will likely assure himself another chance to wear the WEC bantamweight championship. Plus, Torres will have a potential mega—fight with Faber or Aldo dangling in the future.

None of those opportunities will materialize, though, without a victory over Benavidez. In predicting the outcome of the fight, Torres feels very comfortable with his game plan.

"I'm looking at a submission in the second round. I'm going to hit him a couple of times, he's not going to be able to hit me. He's going to get frustrated, shoot in for a takedown and I'll catch him in a submission."