Manuel Torres delivered the biggest win of his career with a jaw-dropping knockout of Drew Dober in the UFC Mexico co-main event.
It was a perfectly timed finish with Torres setting up his straight punches as soon as the fight started and that’s exactly how he eventually put Dober away. With a height and reach advantage, Torres uncorked a left hand and then followed with the straight right that blasted Dober in the jaw and sent him crashing to the canvas.
Torres followed up with a blistering series of hammer fists to the side of the head and Torres eventually went limp with referee Mike Beltran mercifully stopping the fight at 1:45 in the first round.
Just after the fight was over, Dober actually jumped to his feet and tried to continue, which was only further evidence he was actually knocked out and didn’t even realize it. It was an impressive showing from Torres, who moves to 4-1 in the UFC with this latest win.
“I do this all for you,” Torres shouted to the crowd. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without all of you. It was quick. Hey Dana [White], you know where it’s at.”
At the start of the fight, Dober seemed ready to show off a little more patience than his typical aggressive style as he tried to find a way inside Torres’ long punches. Unfortunately for him, that strategy didn’t pay off because Torres stabbed him with one of those long, rangy punches during the very first exchange.
Dober continue to stay in pursuit to hopefully negate that distance, but Torres was pinpoint accurate and deadly with his punches. That’s when he unleashed the left-right combination that put Dober down on the ground and he never got up again until the fight was over.
As soon as Dober dropped he tried to grab onto an anklem but Torres was relentless with the hammer fists in succession until the fight was stopped.
The victory puts Torres back on track after falling to Ignacio Bahamondes in his previous outing and he remains a serious threat to anyone ready to throw down with him in the UFC lightweight division.
