UFC 126 Results and Reaction: Miguel Torres vs. Antonio Banuelos

UFC 126 saw the much anticipated UFC debut of former WEC Bantamweight champion Miguel Torres. Torres battled fellow 135-pounder Antonio Banuelos, who he had a 13-inch reach advantage on—something that he would take advantage of many times in through the course of the bout.

The fight began with a very slow pace for the usually electric 135-pound division as both men were in the feeling-out mode. Torres broke the stalemate with a few leg kicks that didn’t seem to do much damage, but also helped to get his jab working.

The fans were unhappy with the velocity of the fight as Banuelos struggled to get past the relentless jab of the much lankier Torres. At one point in the first round, Banuelos did catch a kick of Torres’ and brought him to the ground but quickly got back to his feet; seemingly afraid to be submitted by the very talented former champion.

Banuelos’ height disadvantage was really the story of this fight as his punches fell up short throughout almost the entire fight. He did land a couple decent shots in the final seconds of the first round, which gave some hope for him to win the fight, but he was unable to continue that success in the second or third rounds.

The lack of aggression from Banuelos was disappointing particularly in the third round, as he looked almost disheartened with his inability to stop Torres from busting his nose up with the left jab. He did have one ferocious attempt to land some shots in the final 15 seconds of the fight, but it was unsuccessful as Torres was able to weather the storm and soar to the final bell.

“I know I broke his nose, I heard it crunch a couple times,” said Torres after he was announced as the winner by unanimous decision.

The UFC’s “win-first” mentality may have taken control of Miguel Torres’ head as he executed a very safe game plan throughout the fight, using his superior reach advantage to systematically pick apart his opponent. The fans, however, seemed less than thrilled with the normally very entertaining Torres' less-than-torrid pace.