Manuel Torres recorded the biggest victory of his career at UFC Mexico, but his finish was not without controversy.
It wasn’t a question of whether Drew Dover deserves his first round knockout victory as Torres made Dover get badly injured in his right hand and seal the deal with a series of hammer fists. However, the timing of the suspension led to some criticism being directed at referee Mike Bertran.
UFC lightweight Renato Moicano commented on social media, “I’ll die if he dies.” Rocky 4 The scene where Apollo Creed is killed in a battle by Ivan Drago.
At an evening postwar press conference, Torres was asked about the controversy.
“If you look at the replay, you see the referee, I’m dealing a lot of damage to the opponent, but he didn’t stop the fight, so I’m an expert, so I’m continuing to do it,” Torres said via a Spanish translator. “But, yeah, of course, my opponent, I feel like he’s been a little depressed even before the stop.”
Torres admitted that he felt the match could have been stopped earlier, but he also pointed out that there could have been the misfortune of Bertran being in a position where he could not properly assess Dover’s condition. In the closing sequence, Torres slams Dover with his unprotected hammer fist. Dover’s face was only partially visible when he hung on Torres’ legs.
Still, it seemed Bertrand was visual enough to call a fight. Torres does not accuse him for the error.
“In certain positions, that could happen,” Torres said. “Of course, this was looking down on Drew Dover, so it was difficult for the judges to see if he was out or no. But I think they could work a bit on that, but I think he was in a really specific position.”
Apart from continuing the fight, Torres had little control over the stop, and then Dover recovered and seemed to have gone through at first glance.
Anyway, Torres has placed himself to get a big opportunity with four wins and four wins in his first five UFC appearances and is hoping to book the newly announced UFC 320 event set in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“The UFC just announced its Mexican card on September 13th, so of course I would like to attend that event,” Torres said. “I feel like I’m doing a lot in the name of Mexico, and certainly I’d like to fight again in Mexico. Top 15 fighters, along with my top 15 opponents.”