After demolishing the World Extreme Cagefighting champion in emphatic fashion, more than a few people scratched their heads in unison at the figure of Miguel Torres and wondered aloud: Who the heck is this guy?

He just may be the best mixed martial arts fighter you’ve never heard of.

Torres (33-1) defends his newly acquired WEC bantamweight championship on Sunday against

Japan’s Yoshiro Maeda (22-4-2) at the Arco Arena in Sacramento on Sunday June 1. The fight will be televised by Versus network.

Torres, a tall and lean the fighter from East Chicago – a small town actually located in Indiana just miles from Chicago, Illinois – reminds me of the Fantastic Four comic book hero Mr. Fantastic who can stretch and contort himself into various entanglements.

Torres is like that. He’s a human piece of spaghetti with power.

Whether on the ground or standing up, the Mexican-American fighter remains dangerous. But there’s more to him.

“Fights are all mental,” says Torres, who graduated from Purdue University on money he earned from fighting in the cage.

Now 27, the college graduate has been fighting longer than most pro mixed martial artists and remembers the early days when fights were somewhat underground and his opponents seldom weighed within 10 pounds of his 135-pound body.

“When I first started there were no rules, little instruction and no weight limits,” says Torres of his first experiences in the still-new fighting sport. “The fights were kind of shady and done in bars and nightclubs. There were a lot of wild biker guys, gang-bangers, people like that who would go all the time. I’ve seen a lot in my time. It’s an honor to still be here.”

The Indiana fighter with a college degree in marketing fought a handful of times without pay in the early days around the mid-1990s.

“When I first started fighting it was to test my skills and for honor and to test myself as a man,” said Torres, whose father migrated from Michoacan, Mexico and settled in his current address. “Nobody knew I was fighting.”

Finally, his father discovered his son’s secret. Though angry, he asked about the results.

“I told him I won, then he asked me how much I was paid,” Torres said. “I told him I didn’t get paid and he smacked me on the back of my head and told me that they (promoters) were using me.”

From then on, Torres was paid to fight.

Though the pay was adequate, he needed to supplement his fighting purse by working at various other jobs including The Chicago Sun-Times. And when he entered the university he still fought.

“It paid for my tuition,” says Torres, who now owns his own school in Highland, Indiana called Torres Martial Arts Academy. “I don’t know how I did it. It was like I was a zombie. There’s no getting tired in my family. That’s not a good excuse.”

The Indiana fighter’s journey began at an early age watching boxing on television with his father. Soon karate lessons followed, but when money was tight, he headed to the boxing gyms and learned kickboxing. When he sparred with other types of fighters, he realized whenever he battled wrestlers he could not avoid the takedown. That was until he was introduced to jiu-jitsu.

It all fell into place after acquiring that fighting skill. Even when he faced much larger opponents, the ability to fight off takedowns and knockouts began during the late 1990s and now he feels he’s developed his own style.

“The biggest guy I ever fought was 180 pounds,” said Torres, almost wincing from the memory. “He was a wrestler. He picked me up and slammed me down on my back.”

When the wrestler attempted a second takedown, he ran into Torres knee and left himself vulnerable for the knockout.

Last February, Torres was matched with Chase Beebe, a known grappler and the holder of the WEC bantamweight title. WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber was in the audience and predicted victory for Beebe. It ended quickly, but it was Torres who emerged the victor.

“My whole style is to fight guys like Beebe,” said Torres, who comes from the same area as Beebe. “My jiu-jitsu is my defense against wrestlers. If a guy hits me because he thinks I’m weak, he’s going to fall into my recipe. Beebe wasn’t as experienced. I have more than 40 fights.”

One man who has the experience is Faber, who is the main event on the WEC card and is defending his WEC featherweight title.

“I’d love to fight Urijah someday, man,” says Torres gleefully. “He’s an animal when it comes to training.”

But first, it’s Japan’s karate striker Maeda who has knocked out 14 opponents with punches or kicks. In his last fight, he stopped veteran Charlie Valencia with a kick to the body.

“I know he’s a very good striker,” Torres says of Maeda. “He’s more of a karate-style fighter. He’s going to be very elusive and have me come forward. I’m not going to make it a karate match.”

If Torres beats Maeda, who knows? Maybe he can incur a Faber.

EliteXC readies for CBS debut
Kimbo Slice, the heavyweight with a massive beard, has become a media monster with his picture on the front of ESPN The Magazine and queued for several other publications.

Still, skeptics remain.

“You know, everybody is entitled to their opinion,” said Slice (2-0) during a conference call last week.

The fighter whose popularity emanated from the Internet via videos on YouTube.com has ridden a wave of curiosity and becomes the central figure on Saturday at 9 p.m. when he fights England’s James “The Colossus” Thompson (14-8) on CBS.

It’s a historic moment.

“It’s the opportunity for MMA to be seen by a hundred million eyeballs,” said Gary Shaw, president of EliteXC. “Plus, it’s the opportunity for everybody to understand that mixed martial arts is really a sport.”

With only two pro fights under his belt, it’s up to Slice to prove in front of millions that he can indeed fight. Or at least provide excitement.

Slice has a good tutor in Bas Rutten, the legendary fighter turned trainer who is molding the former football player, bodyguard and street fighter into a true MMA warrior.

“There’s a big chance of losing it all because like they say, you know he can be a tough guy on the street, but that doesn’t mean anything if you’re going to do it against a pro,”

Rutten said. “I think that Kimbo’s hands are better than 80 percent of the guys in the mixed martial arts game right now. They’re going to try to take him down.”

Rutten says Slice has to learn the hard way.

The Florida street fighter says he’s got a lot of motivation.

“I’m fighting to never go back to the gutter again,” said Slice.

His opponent Thompson is fighting for respectability too.

“After my last few fights I don’t think I really deserve the chance,” said Thompson, who lost three of his last four fights by knockout including a first-round blowout to Eric “Butterbean” Esch a year ago. “But to get this chance is massive to me.”

MMA gets its first true mainstream opportunity, as well.

“This is going to be the biggest thing and you will see it get bigger,” said Rutten about free TV showing MMA nationwide. “I said (in the past) the first person who’s going to put this on free TV, regular TV, is going to make a killing because that’s what they (people) want.”

Fights coming up
Friday May 30 – AFL: Bulletproof at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. (408) 878-3000.

Friday May 30 – WFC 7: Lockdown at Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (800) 843-8767.

Friday May 30 – Primetime FC: Inception at Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana. (219) 791-1234.

Saturday May 31 – CBS-EliteXC: Saturday Night Fights at Prudential Center at Newark, New Jersey. (201) 507-8900.

Saturday May 31 – XFA 2 at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. (866) 388-3267.

Sunday June 1 – WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. (916) 928-6900.

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