Breaking Down UFC 126: Torres Vs Banuelos, Ellenberger Vs. Rocha

Added on Feb 03, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Miguel Torres vs. Antonio Banuelos

When you ask Miguel Torres how many fights he has he says somewhere around 50, but his record as it stands is 38-3. With only 1 loss from 2000-2009, Torres managed to drop 2 in a row, and found himself in a weird position fighting Charlie Velencia. He was able to get the job done in the second round, when he secured the rear naked choke to the victory and get back in the win column. It was vintage Torres, He was able to tag Valencia, and get the choke on the ground.

Banuelos (18-6) is as seasoned of WEC fighter as anyone, his fifth fight took place at WEC 5: Halloween Fury, and he is coming off of a decision win over Chad George at WEC 51. He is one of only a few people who could really talk about the WEC as a whole since he was with the organization its entire life cycle. He is taking a big step up in facing a fighter like Miguel Torres.

Torres will probably be okay with wherever the fight goes, but I assume he is going to come out really aggressive against Banuelos. Banuelos will definitely want to keep this fight standing up, and this is why its a dangerous fight for him. Miguel has excellent punches, and is comfortable on his feet, and isn’t afraid of getting hit. He stands in the pocket just enough to convince you he won’t take you down, and then does just that. I think that’s what we are looking at in this fight.

Ideally, Torres will light him up on the feet, and submit him while he is recovering. My prediction is just that, in the second round he will hit Banuelos with something sold that will drop him. He will work some ground and pound, and Torres will get the choke.
Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha

Jake Ellenberger has a large chunk of cage time in his career. Going 21-4 before entering the UFC, Jake came close to beating Carlos Condit in his debut with the organization, but since has put up good wins over Mike Pyle and John Howard. Both Tko’s, but the Howard fight was stopped because of Howard’s eye swelling shut.

Carlos Eduardo Rocha is currently 9-0 as a professional, and he just debuted in the UFC at 122 where he had a beautiful knee bar win over The Ultimate Fighter contestant Kris McCray. In all of his fights, he has only been to the second round once, but making a “quality of opponent” argument is easy to do in Rocha’s case. The combined record of the nine fighters he has faced is 31-44-5. I don’t mean to belittle Carlos here, but its a valid point to make. However, he has shown a solid BJJ acumen, and claims that he has won over 50 regional BJJ tournaments before he turned to Mixed Martial Arts.

I haven’t seen much of Rocha’s striking honestly, but from what I did see it looked to be above average. I say this because I am not sure Ellenberger will want to play on the floor much with Rocha. Jake may have more experience in the cage, but I’m willing to bet my house on the fact that Rocha has more experience on the ground. Carlos was an orphan, and was taken in by Dárcio Lira who taught him BJJ.

Jake will most likely enjoy a reach advantage being two inches taller, and with his skills he should be considered the better striker of the two. He will have to avoid the clinch/grasp of Rocha because I think he is crafty enough to take down Ellenberger. I do see Jake thinking he will be able to handle Carlos on the floor, and I think at some point he will attempt a takedown and Carlos won’t stop him. Thats when I think Carlos will use his very active guard to gain the submission win over Ellenberger, and it will most likely happen late in the first round.