LAS VEGAS – Securing victory in a UFC debut is a fighter’s dream, but the undefeated Torrez Finney has to face a nightmare reaction to his performance.
After three wins on Dana White’s Contender Series, Finney (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) finally got his chance to compete under the UFC banner. His debut split decision win against Robert Valentin is one that he wants to quickly move past.
“I’d rather have an ugly ‘W’ than a good ‘L,’” Finney told reporters at a post-fight news conference. “… One, we were really confident in my area, obviously, getting it to the ground. I felt like I was the better grappler, no question. He did some things better in situations than I expected, but also, there was a lot of missed opportunities for me on the ground, and I didn’t take advantage of it. There’s a lot of things I got to grow on. I think I gave him too much confidence in areas, and I didn’t execute.”
From a grappling standpoint, Finney had was able to put Valentin (10-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) wherever he wanted early on in the fight with a couple of slams and easy takedowns. However, once the fight hit the canvas, there was nothing else Finney offered except simply holding his opponent down.
Over 15 minutes, Finney landed only four significant strikes, a record for the lowest output in a three-round decision. The damage was so low, the dissenting judge, Tony Weeks, scored all three rounds for Valentin, despite being held down a majority of the fight.
“In a way, I thought I just F’d this up, I really did,” Finney said.
Finney isn’t sure what prevented him from unleashing more offense in dominant positions. He says he goal is to always get a finish, but whether it was jitters from his UFC debut or some other factor, Finney says he will get back to work to improve for his next outing.
“It was a weird performance,” Finney said. “That was a dud, in my honest opinion. You know, it happens. I ain’t gonna lie, I feel great. This is the best I’ve felt going into a fight, just was a dud. I felt way worse than this going into a fight, and I’ve had an incredible performance. … Tonight was one of those type of nights.
“Like I said, came out with the victory, that’s the main thing, but just got to grow. I’ve only been fighting since October 2020. Heck, my coach was just telling me: less than five years, you’re already in the UFC, and a UFC win. Take that, you’ve got to run with it, but we got to grow from it.”
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