By the Numbers: Miguel Torres

Miguel Torres’ star burned brightly on the big stage, if only for a short time.

The former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion rattled off 27 victories in his first 28 outings and eventually made his way to the Ultimate Fighting Championship before a late-career fade resulted in his going radio silent. Torres announced his retirement in 2017—he had compiled a 44-9 record to that point—but soon after opened the door to the possibility of a return. However, the Carlson Gracie-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has not competed in MMA since he submitted Lloyd Carter with a guillotine choke at a United Combat League show nearly four years ago.

As the sport awaits further word on Torres’ future plans, a look at some of the numbers that came to define him:

39: Years of age. Miguel Angel Torres was born on Jan. 18, 1981 in East Chicago, Indiana.

34: Stoppage wins to his credit, accounting for 77 percent of Torres’ career total. His long list of victims included Chase Beebe, Yoshiro Maeda, Manny Tapia and Charlie Valencia.

10: Seconds needed to put away Larry Pulliam with punches at a Finke’s Full Contact Challenge event in March 27, 2000. Having occurred in Torres’ professional debut, it remains the fastest finish of his 53-fight career.

5: World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champions, of which Torres was one. The others were Beebe, Eddie Wineland, Brian Bowles and Dominick Cruz.

3: Submission losses on his ledger. Torres tapped to a brabo choke from Kleber Koike Erbst and guillotine chokes from Pablo Alfonso and Joseph Benavidez.

20: Consecutive victories to start his career. Torres’ undefeated run came to an end with a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Ackerman at an Ironheart Crown event in November 2003. He went on a 17-fight winning streak after the setback and later avenged his defeat to Ackerman by submitting him with an armbar.

.500: Winning percentage in the UFC. Torres went 2-2 inside the Octagon, his losses to Demetrious Johnson and Michael McDonald offset by wins over Antonio Banuelos and Nick Pace.

76: Inches of reach. Torres was unusually long for the bantamweight division. In fact, his wingspan stretches further than a number of current heavyweights on the UFC roster, including Daniel Cormier (72.5), Blagoy Ivanov (73), Justin Tafa (74), Tai Tuivasa (75) and Tanner Boser (75.5).

219: Total strikes landed by Torres in his successful title defense against Takeya Mizugaki in the WEC 40 main event. It remains a personal-best in the category.

14: Takedowns conceded by Torres in WEC and UFC competition. He went 0-for-5 on takedown attempts of his own.