UFC 130: Miguel Torres vs. Demetrious Johnson

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With the Miguel Torres-Demetrious Johnson and Kendall Grove-Tim Boetsch bantamweight and middleweight bouts streaming on Facebook, the UFC 130 prelims bid a glimpse into two divisions definitely in instability, at least at the mid-tier contender level.

It must provide a convincing look at the transformation process for Torres, a former WEC champion who takes on the brilliant Johnson in what should be an thrilling match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Here is a closer look at the UFC 130 prelims, with a preview and picks.

Bantamweights

The Matchup: Once the dread of the WEC’s bantamweights, Torres discovers himself against “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, a intensifying star at 135 pounds. A tall, dangerous attacker with exceptional submissions, Torres’ sole conspicuous weakness may be overshadowing wrestler-types with fast hands, which is exactly the style Johnson demonstrates. Watch UFC 130 Live Stream now.

It must have determined a pale into the heart of every fan of the old-school Japanese scene when “Mighty Mouse” conquered Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto in the latter’s UFC debut in February. Using lightning-quick takedowns and great wrestling chops, Johnson revealed he was a serious trickle for the bantamweights in his stellar win at UFC 126. Toss in wins over Damacio Page and Nick Pace and a hard-fought judgment loss to Brad Pickett prior to that, and we have a genuine contender.

Torres is no easy task, for sure. The 5-foot-9 former champion has a boatload of experience, sports a 39-3 record and is a master at result angles and ranges that work, using these to command how a fight goes. Johnson’s job is to close the break and hit takedowns while prominent a balance between keeping busy on the ground and not giving Torres an initial for a fond or sweep; guess him to push the pace, specifically when he takes down Torres and refutes his six-inch height lead.

Torres remains a brilliant fighter, and yet his successive stoppage losses to Brian Bowles at WEC 42 and Joseph Benavidez at WEC 47 stimulated him to shake up his method and training camps, this is still a bad style bout for him. Fundamentally, Johnson only has to win two rounds, which means he will need three to four effective takedowns while not getting his block knocked off or lumbering into a submission.

The Pick: Appearance for Johnson to skim around on the feet a bit before exploding on Torres and rapidly taking it to the mat. Shower, rinse and repeat, and Johnson close hard to a unanimous decision.