Exclusive Interview Jose Torres : “I want to become a two-division champion at Brave CF”

Brave CF

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Jose “Shorty Torres is known as one of the brightest prospects in MMA. The former Titan FC Flyweight and Bantamweight Champion left the organization with an undefeated record to sign on short notice with the UFC. After two fights the UFC cut him and he signed with Brave CF. Torres will make his debut on March 15th in Manila against undefeated Amir Albazi. In this interview we talk with Torres about the Flyweight division, his upcoming fight and the departure from the UFC.

First off all thank you for your time.

The most obvious question of all time, how are you doing and how is your training camp going?
– Overall, the training camp has been awesome. I’m representing ATT and working with Din Thomas, but right now he’s at Roufusport, working with Tyron Woodley as he gets ready for his championship fight. So, since it’s only twelve hours away, and I really wanted to work with Din, specifically for this fight, I’ve been going there for the past three weeks. I’m having an amazing time, training with Raufeon Stots, Sergio Pettis, Duke Roufus, and all the other coaches and athletes there. Din Thomas has been an amazing coach, really breaking down my fights and working in this fight specifically, and getting 100% ready for my opponent. I’m super excited to see how everything is going. I still have one month to go, and I have improved so much in the last month. I can just imagine the fight day. I have been having an amazing fight camp.

You are one of the brightest prospects in the Flyweight and Bantamweight division. What are your goals this year at Brave CF?
– I’m trying my best to be one of the brightest prospects in those divisions, but to me, this is a process. I want to be different like I did in Titan FC. I ended up going for the Flyweight and eventually the Bantamweight championship. And I want to do the same, exact thing. I want to overall dominate and show that I’m a force to be reckoned with, in either weight class. I have a four-fight contract and I have a plan: title contender fight, championship fight, defend the title and bump up to fight for the Bantamweight belt. And I want to show the world I’m a phenomenal fighter, I want to prove that. Show that I can do this at Brave as well.

You’re fighting the undefeated Amir Albazi. What do you know about your opponent and how do you see this fight going (obviously you see yourself winning but in what way)?
– Amir Albazi is an amazing fighter. He’s a person who comes from amazing struggles to get where he is now. That’s why he’s 11-0. He really is a world champion in his own right. I know he’s a jiu-jitsu champion, a guy who is always looking to grapple, to put on a show and get the finish. I expect one big thing and that’s for him to try and take me down, choke me out, submit me. And I’m excited about that. It’s something I’ve been easily trained for. I’m excited to be his first big test. Because I know he’s 11-0, undefeated, a Bellator vet, he beat an IMMAF world champion in his last fight. He’s battle-tested, but he hasn’t been battle-tested against someone like me, or at least against someone of my caliber. So I’m excited to see how this goes and see if I can take this 0 out of his record.

You have been one of the biggest signing Brave CF did. Does that give you extra pressure or do you like it that way? And how do you deal with the expectations?
– There’s an incredible amount of pressure on me for my Brave debut. Yes, I’m one of their biggest signings, and that’s awesome, it’s an extreme pleasure. But, for me, I’m coming off a loss, and before that I was on a 33-fight winning streak, not expecting to lose any time soon. So there’s a lot of pressure for me to get back at it. There’s a lot of pressure for me to win my Brave debut because I think everyone expects me to win the Flyweight title. But I have an opponent in front of me, who’s definitely, amazingly talented, a prospect as well. I have to get through him first and show the world that I can do something. It is a process, there’s a lot of things ahead of me that I need to overcome. But I’m excited to do that, and show the world that, no matter what’s put in front of me, I can get the job done, and I will.

We have to go back nine months, you took a long overdue short notice opportunity in the UFC against Jarred Brooks. You came up on top, but was released after losing only one fight. Did you ever get an explanation why you got released and what was your reaction back then?
– The UFC was, at the time, trying to release Flyweights, and really break their contracts. And the loophole was “you lose, you’re out”. And that’s really the only case. They were not trying to keep the Flyweight division. I wish I was told that earlier because I would never sign with the UFC and, in a sense, be fighting for a dying weight class. But nevertheless I did, and I fought Jarred Brooks. A lot of people saw it as a lucky fight, saying the guy knocked himself out and I won because of that. But whatever the case may be I look at it as a nine-day notice, with 26 pounds over as a Flyweight. No matter what happened in that fight I made the weight, I tried my best. Mainly with no training camp, always worried about making weight. And then immediately I was forced to go back out there and fight Alex Perez, pretty much less than a month after that. Having to shed another 28 pounds, when I was told that I was either going to fight them, or I wouldn’t fight for months. So I had no choice but to take the fight, on extremely short notice, because I had two last-minute weight cuts. In 45 days I lost 54 pounds, so I wasn’t mentally prepared and because of that, I was completely drained, out of it, an empty shell by the time I got in there and got beat up. So for this one, I have a full training camp, so I’m excited to prove myself. Back then, the reason I was cut is that I lost. They looked at it as I got lucky in my first fight, and then performed badly in my second one. I wasn’t given a fair share and that’s sadly what the UFC tries to do, they took advantage of that. That’s why I’m so excited for Brave, because they’re not taking advantage of me, they’re giving me what I need to succeed.

The Brave CF Flyweight division is pretty stacked at the moment. Some very legit fighters and some tough competition. Do you think Brave CF could be able to take over that Flyweight division?
– I believe the Flyweight division is open to the world. The promotions are trying to do things with the Flyweights, and prove a point that we are exciting athletes. But it is nothing like what Brave is trying to do. They’re not doing a tournament to see who’s going to be the inaugural champ, or trying to boast about “Oh, we got this fighter or that fighter”. No, the talents speak for themselves! And we’re all going to show, starting for me, on March 15th, that we are a force to be reckoned with. We are extremely entertaining. And because you don’t know us or whatever the case may be, it doesn’t mean we’re not amazingly exciting fighters. Again, Albazi has been through some struggles. So we’ll have a Bellator vet against a UFC vet and I’m excited for that. I think anyone would like to see these types of match-ups. And for a co-main event in the Philippines, it’s going to be an amazing card, I’m excited to show the world that Flyweights can fight and it’s going to be one of the best fights on the Brave 22 card.

You was the reigning Flyweight and Bantamweight champ for the Titan FC organization before signing with the UFC. Can we expect you also at Bantamweight in Brave CF?
– Yes, my goal is to be Brave’s first-ever simultaneous champ-champ, like I was at Titan FC. I don’t want to win a belt, lose it and then go for another one. I want to be the simultaneous champ, like DC was for the UFC, and like I was for Titan, and show the world that I’m a dominant champion. I want to defend both titles and go back and forth through both divisions. I’m a fan of the ranking system, if you deserve to go for the belt, you should be able to do it. But if there’s no one at the moment in one of the divisions, bump up or down and defend it there. I did it at Titan and I will do it in Brave too.

What do you use to keep your body healthy and to relax when you don’t train or fight to stay in shape?
– There’s a lot of things I do and use to relax, to keep my body healthy. The biggest thing is to rest and mentally calm me down, when I look at all the stress in my life at the moment and things behind the scenes as well, so there’s definitely a lot of sponsors with CBD, massage therapy, chiropractic, and cryotherapy, but I try my best to rest always. Train smart and recover even smarter.

Why should people tune in next month to watch your Brave CF debut? What can they expect!!
– If anyone’s watched any of my fights, they know how I fight. I come to put on a show, to finish people. I don’t miss opportunities when they are given. I think I’m a very, very exciting fighter, and I know my last two outings don’t do me justice, but with, in a sense, only 29 days in between them to prepare, and 54 pounds to shed, it is not the most exciting tryout, if you want to say. I’m excited to redeem myself, and show the world that I wasn’t given my fair share, and show what I can do when I am given my fair share.

Do you have some smart/handy tips for young and upcoming fighters? Some Do’s and Dont’s.
– I believe in do’s and dont’s for amateurs and even for pros coming up. I think you really have to swallow your pride and do things that you’re not excited to do. For example, if you’re a wrestler and you hate jiu-jitsu, you have to train jiu-jitsu! Because it’s really different. If you’re a wrestler and you’re not good at throwing your hands, hold at something, you might be really bad at it. You might be a world champion in wrestling but then you can get knocked out in your fight because you can’t throw hands properly. So being able to swallow your pride and work on things you’re bad at, or not so good at, and accept losing in practice so you can hopefully win with flying colors. Also, get experience! If you’re an amateur fighter, stay amateur for as long as you can. This is your practice session, and practice makes it perfect. There’s no reason to go 5-0 as an amateur and then turn pro. You just practiced five times. I practiced 26 times at the highest level, with the IMMAF, so if you’re an amateur fighter, stay for as long as you can, mainly if you’re young. It’s better to lose as an amateur than to lose as a pro. Learn from your mistakes, and overall have fun doing it. I think a lot of people lose the sense of fun while doing it. Try to enjoy yourself, see why you originally started this. Try to smile, have fun, enjoy the sport and enjoy entertaining people.

Thank you very much for your time. We would like to wish you best of luck in your Brave CF debut.
– Thank you! It was a pleasure!

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