Champ Torres upended

Wearing a scowl during a determined walk to the cage, Miguel Torres looked the part of one of the world's toughest pound-for-pound fighters. A short time later, he absorbed a pounding.

Torres wore a black eye and facial bruises after getting rocked by Brian Bowles in a major World Extreme Cagefighting upset Sunday night at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Bowles (8-0) stole Torres' WEC bantamweight title with a shocking knockout at 3:57 of the first round.

"I totally convinced myself that I could beat him," Bowles said. "I wasn't afraid of him. I threw a big right and it landed on his chin."

Torres, a minus-330 favorite at the Hard Rock sports book, did not see his 17-fight win streak come to an end. He was on his back, eyes closed, as Bowles launched the final blows.

Bowles floored Torres (36-2) with an overhand right, then jumped on Torres and threw 10 more punches to his head as about 3,000 fans in The Joint watched in awe.

Torres has been ranked among the top pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts -- behind Ultimate Fighting Championship star Anderson Silva -- but his air of invincibility was swept away.

"I was on top for a long time with no threat," Torres said. "In this sport, one shot can change everything. Now I'm on bottom, and I have something to work for now.

"Brian is a strong guy, and he hits really hard. I got caught with a good shot. There's no excuses for what happened."

Torres took his whipping with class, as WEC general manager Reed Harris said, "We don't even know how good Brian Bowles is yet."

Bowles, of Athens, Ga., has crushed every competitor he has faced in the WEC.

"I didn't really think I would get the knockout in the first," he said. "I was preparing myself mentally for a decision."

Takeya Mizugaki, who lost a five-round unanimous decision to Torres in April, barely held off a late rush by Jeff Curran to win by split decision.

Mizugaki (12-3-2) was a minus-210 favorite.

Dominick Cruz (14-1) dealt Joseph Benavidez (10-1) his first setback in an intense back-and-forth bantamweight brawl at 135 pounds. Cruz earned a unanimous decision over Benavidez, a minus-280 favorite. There was no quit in either of the tireless tough guys in what was voted the night's best fight.

One punch also made all the difference for lightweight Danny Castillo in his second-round technical knockout of Ricardo Lamas. Castillo was losing before connecting with a right hand to Lamas' jaw. Lamas stumbled, did a nosedive to the canvas and Castillo pounced on him.

In back-to-back featherweight fights, Cole Province and Leonard Garcia scored close victories. Province edged Fredson Paixao 29-28 on all three scorecards. Garcia won by split decision.

A Garcia punch dropped Jameel Massouh in the first round. Massouh seemed to be in big trouble, but he recovered and pushed Garcia to the limit.

"After I hit him with that first right hand, I thought the fight was over," said Garcia, adding that he fought with "no energy" for most of the second and third rounds but found a way to survive.

Shane Roller (6-2) of Las Vegas controlled a physical battle with Marcus Hicks, slamming Hicks on his back in the final minute to finish off a win by unanimous decision.

Ed Ratcliff was too fast for Phil Cardella in a lightweight bout that Ratcliff took by unanimous decision.

L.C. Davis, Diego Nunes and Rani Yahya each posted wins to open the 11-fight card.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.