International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) reported that two-time IMMAF Amateur MMA World Championship gold medallist Jose Torres had decided it was time to turn professional. The bantamweight standout recently discussed his decision with IMMAF and also recapped the journey to claiming two world championship gold medals, as the only athlete to have done so, in addition to a pair of UMMAF national championship victories and various regional titles. This in addition to an imposing 25-1 amateur record, makes Torres the most decorated amateur fighter to have ever competed under the IMMAF banner. The 23-year-old Illinois native returned to Las Vegas in July to claim his second dose of IMMAF World Championship gold, and following the inaugural championships of 2014, he noticed significant development in both himself and the competition around him. “This year the experience was a lot better,” Torres explained. “I was a lot stronger and diverse; a lot more countries came out. The competition was a lot better and I really enjoyed it.” With his championship titles and an unbeaten streak of 25 amateur victories, Torres is the closest thing in MMA to that of a leading amateur boxing turning professional after the Olympics. Without a doubt Torres is ahead of his time. From a young age he’s made the most of a full and extensive amateur career like no other and this has resulted in opportunity that he could never have imagined. Martial Arts Background Torres’ martial arts background began when he was four-years-old, but unlike many American MMA fighters, he did not begin wrestling until the age of 14 which is fairly late on by American standards. Torres and his Mother would travel the country in his younger years for national karate competitions, and at the age of 16 he met his coach, Master Bob Schirmer, who he remains with today. “I started karate when I was four-years-old, after that I started wrestling when I was fourteen. I wasn’t too good of a wrestler until my senior year when I really started to focus on it. I met Master Bob when I was sixteen, then I started MMA when I was eighteen and from there I won my first Muay Thai world championship in kickboxing. I then started to get local MMA championships and started doing different states in the US. Eventually I won the nationals, I won the worlds and then I did it again, nationals and worlds. “I had the offer to wrestle when I was four-years-old, I just never took the chance. My family wanted me to do football, basketball; the more common, traditional sports.” The 2015 World Championships The experience accumulated from 26 fights has no doubt been a key factor of Torres’ dominance. Having faced off against all sizes and levels of experience, he brings the functionality to adapt to any situation he is dealt. In the opening round of this year’s IMMAF World Championships Torres faced a familiar opponent in the form of Team UK’s Carl Burton. They had collided once before in the semi-finals of 2014 but Torres once again took away the unanimous decision victory. “All four of my fights were a little different. The UK guy (Burton), all he wanted to do was box and go to the ground, mostly on his back. I didn’t want to do that so I had to be a little more diverse when I fought him, I’d be able to take him down but then immediately stand up. “I fought Carl Burton in the semis last year. Since I’d fought him already I was able to counter a lot of things and I thought that was my easiest fight. From the first round going up it got harder and harder.” In the quarter-finals Torres claimed another unanimous decision when he faced Belgium’s Salvatore Liga, another veteran of the 2014 championships. “The Belgian guy (Liga), all he wanted to do was wrestle, it wasn’t like the UK guy, this one wanted to take me down and put me on my back. “I put him in three different submissions and this guy just wouldn’t go to sleep.” Torres Joked; “I felt like Iron Man punching the Hulk in Avengers 2, he just would not pass out.” Torres’ momentum was beginning to pick up, and while he finished the fight with a rear-naked-choke submission during the second round of his semi-final contest, he feels Ireland’s Carl McNally was the most complex test so far. “The Northern Ireland guy (McNally), he fought like Conor McGregor, straight stand up karate. I had to battle through that, eventually try to tie up and push the pace forward. Even though I finished him in the second round, he pushed the pace.” On paper, the gold medal bout with Kazakhstan’s Nurtilek Konashov was by far Torres’ easiest of the four-day, single elimination tournament as the American snatched his second world championship triumph with a Guillotine Choke in the opening round. Konashov’s less refined fighting style presented a more unnerving threat, but this was ultimately his downfall as Torres adapted. “The guy from Kazakhstan caught me off guard, he wanted to actually stand up and brawl. From there I had to be able to tire him out with standup, it was kind of like Rocky 3, to withstand the brutality of the guy and tire him out. “He came out swinging, the only problem was he blew it out very quickly and after that your skill goes away if you have no conditioning. If I didn’t know how to move as well as I did, it would have been a different case.” The 2015 IMMAF World Championships produced a diverse mix of obstacles that tested Torres’ ability on several levels. Following his recap of the tournament, Torres concluded; “There was all different styles, I’m glad I was able to get that experience and as an amateur it’s a nice thing to have. “In all honesty, if I didn’t do the first year and came out for the second year, I probably would have struggled. I believe I grew a lot after that first year; I did train a lot harder. “I was ready to go pro, but Master Bob Schirmer, coach of Team USA, told me to stay amateur for this last world championship and it was worth it. “Last year we had twenty-something countries sign up, this year we were in the thirties. I’m pretty sure next year could be in the high thirties or low forties, and it’s going to keep on growing. It’s a very popular sport, it very famous and we’ve already gotten together to build a world championship. If it keeps going like this then it might be in the Olympics one day.” Team USA Torres wasn’t the only champion representing his country in 2015. The USA claimed a total of seven medals across the various weight categories with Brendan Allen and Will Starks also taking gold, Travis Edwards winning silver and the trio Codie Wareham, Kimberley Defiori and Lindsey Lawrence each claiming bronze. “We all got along really well; William Starks is a really cool guy. Coincidently, we shared the same major in college. I just graduated, but he’s also in the same major of kinesiology – exercise science, so we naturally clicked. We were all from different states, one from Alaska, I’m from Illinois, Will is from Missouri. “It was definitely a good time; Brendan Allen was another gold medallist. Carlos Hernandez was a gold medallist last year, sadly he lost this year. Carlos is one of my teammates from when I first started and he still is now. We all got on well, there was good team bonding.” 25-1 Torres’ amateur record could be seen as a historic milestone in the development of amateur MMA. The experience has enabled him to face countless scenarios ahead of time, before turning professional, similar to that of an amateur boxer who will master the ranks with an excess of 50 amateur fights before turning professional, and Torres feels that more amateur fighters should adopt this path. Torres was defeated in his amateur debut, but wen t to a split-decision with a last minute opponent who boasted an experienced record. In just his second amateur contest, standing 5’4”, Torres went up 10lbs to defeat a 6’2” featherweight. “I’m 25-1 with 25 straight wins. I’m pretty happy about it, I feel I had the most experience going into the IMMAF tournament, you could tell a lot of guys who in certain situations didn’t know what to do and the problem with a lot of amateurs these days is that they go 5-0 with first round TKOs and they want to turn pro. There’s a reason why boxers go 25 straight wins, or 30 to 40 amateur fights and then they go professional, it’s because they want to get a look at every different style before they turn professional. They don’t want to be surprised, they want to be ready and prepared.” Turning pro Having graduated from college and done all he can as an amateur champion, Torres decided that now really was the right time to launch his professional career. Torres is currently in Bahrain completing a management deal with H.H. Shaikh Khalid, the Bahrain prince, who scouted Torres during the world championships. The offer was something that Torres would never have dreamed of, and it may not have been his fate if it wasn’t for coach Schirmer convincing him to remain amateur for a second world championships. “The prince is actually the one who confronted and talked to me. He brought up the opportunity to financially back me up as a manager and I’ve been looking up stuff so let’s just say I’m getting more excited as the days go on. “This is the only management company that I know who are actually going to pay their fighters to manage them. He wants to get me fights but also financially back me up so that I don’t have to work; all I have to do is train. He’s going to help me to another level. I know James Gallagher from Ireland, and another 145lber from the Ireland team, are both going to be on my team in Bahrain. We’ve also got Khabib Nurmagomedov who is the no.3 ranked UFC lightweight. They’re giving me an opportunity that nobody in the world can give me and if it wasn’t for the second world championships I wouldn’t have been noticed. “My coach, Master Bob Schirmer, if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be getting this Bahrain deal. I wanted to be a little impatient; I wanted to turn pro because I felt I was ready. This second world championships proved that I’m ready and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have listened.” For his first professional bout Torres aims to fight under the banner of ONE FC, Asia’s premier organisation based in Malaysia who operate as one of the leading MMA promotions in the world. The deal is not yet confirmed, but Torres is hopeful as he is soon to make his way to Malaysia for additional training. “The Malaysian team came to the world championships last year so I got very acquainted with them. I’m going out there to train them and to also get trained in some of the Muay Thai and they’ll find me some fights out there. They have big connections with ONE FC and it seems my first pro fight will be with ONE FC. “ONE FC is the second biggest organisation right now, it’s the biggest in Asia and they’re doing well.” Torres and his coach have taken the time to look over potential competition in ONE FC’s bantamweight division. “My record has so many fights from where I’ve gone in the world, it’s a little more experienced than some of the professionals on a card. I have a lot of background, given it’s all amateur, but with the world level of competition and two world championships, you can’t argue against that. It might be my first fight in ONE FC, a big promotion, but I have the experience to do it. “My coach and I started looking up film of ONE FC’s 135lb bantamweights and we’re not too worried. We’re having a great time watching it.” Role Model Most interestingly, Torres expressed his personals morals and enthusiasm for sportsmanship. ‘Shorty’ unveiled how he’s not a natural lover of fighting, he has no intention of inflicting damage that isn’t necessary and never enjoys seeing his opponents go to sleep, as Konashov found out in the IMMAF championships finals. “There’s a reason why some of my fights, particularly my early fights, don’t go to a finish. I don’t like hurting people. For example, in my last fight I didn’t want to put him to sleep. He doesn’t speak English but I’ve been texting with him through Facebook and said I’m sorry that happened. I want to do my job but I don’t want to hurt you, that’s not the goal.” Torres discovered that he is simply an effective fighter. His motivation to compete admirably comes from the dream of being a role model to his community and to inspire others. “I don’t fight for myself, I actually don’t like fighting. I was naturally talented at it and I kept on going and got better and better. Now, people look at me in my neighbourhood as a role model getting out of the town I live in. My neighbourhood isn’t the best neighbourhood in the world and we’re all Latino so we struggle a little bit. “I’m hoping I’ve inspired, and I have inspired a lot of people. People message me saying I’m doing a great job and that their kids look up to me or they look up to me, and I volunteer a lot so I’m happy to give back. When they say that it helps motivate me and remind me why I do this. “For me it’s about getting up and doing something. I’m doing something that inspires other people and it makes the world go round, so I’m happy.” Torres continuously expressed recognition for those who drove him to achieve success. Coach Bob Schirmer ensured the Torres made the most of his amateur career that has resulted in the opportunity of a lifetime, but the talent may never have been discovered if it wasn’t for the support of his Mother and some old childhood heroes. “I’d like to thank my family; my family has done a lot for me. My Mother would take me every day when I was 4-years-old to karate, sometimes twice a day and hours away to tournaments; I know we went 16+ hours to Virginia for a national tournament. “This might sound childish but when I was growing up I always wanted to be a hero. Most of the shows I watched were like Power Rangers or Dragonball Z, so my role models were the White Ranger, Green Ranger, Gokhu and people who inspire others. I’ve always wanted to be that type of person.” You can follow Jose Torres on Twitter @ShortyTorres125 [/spb_text_block]]]>
