Jose Shorty Torres on Brave CF 42 and the flyweight tournament
Jose Shorty Torres fights at Brave CF 42, which is happening on September the 24th. It is a flyweight bout between Sean Santella and is part of a 125-pound grand prix that Brave has put together. Torres is “Really really excited to put on a phenomenal performance against a really high touted of veteran in this in this incredible tournament.” Below are some additional excerpts from my conversation with the flyweight phenom.
Awareness of opponent’s skillset
“I got Sean Santella in front of me and he’s a challenge nonetheless. So Sean Santella is more of a jujitsu based type of guy, you know. A little wild in the standup but he’s so confident on the ground. The standup doesn’t matter you know he’s like Demian Maia or those high-level jiu-jitsu guys where he can just throw haymakers all he want, even if he gets dropped in return, he’s ready to be on his back. He’s ready to be on top, he’s ready to be on the ground.”
“So I have to be very smart in this fight because even if it does get to the ground, even though I feel confident, one little slip up there goes my arm. One little slip-up, I’m stuck in a triangle and I’ve trained with Sean Santella before. Him and I are good friends, him and I have texted try to get to each other fights stuff like that. Flyweights stick together… It’s definitely business and you know we have to go through each other. Just to get to this next level this flyweight tournament.”
Jose Shorty Torres
Camaraderie among flyweights
“Yeah you know it’s weird because I believe you know now, they can look at it as like a marketing ploy. They cut out a lot of guys like myself, Dustin Ortiz…. so many other top UFC flyweights. You see all these other promotions picking them up. Brave CF, Rizin, Pancrase. All these different promotions, KSW, Bellator. I think UFC sees a little mistake of like ‘oh damn actually a lot of people like this flyweight division.’…I’m trying to accomplish my goals in Brave first. Which is to be a flyweight and bantamweight champion, but unless I have three fights to accomplish the first goal.”
Overcoming personal tragedies
“In August last year, it got pushed back. I was supposed to fight in November and my father passed away. I was supposed to fight in March, COVID hit. Possibly August, COVID was still around. Now in September, it’s like, man, all I’ve been doing is training, training, training and I’m just more motivated, ever. Just get in there and show the world what I can really do. Especially for not being gone for an injury and for being a person who has been doing this, you know since I was four years old.”
Brave CF
Jose Shorty Torres’ tight knit training crew
“Yeah, the two people I’ve been training with are Gillian Robertson and Din Thomas, you know. Without those two I think mentally I’d be at a different place. I talk about my mentality so much just because, again, my father passed away. I was released by the UFC, a promotion I’ve been fighting to get into for years and was just extremely demoralized and belittled by, you know,. So I’ve gone through my mental struggles you know fighting iha taken away from my social life, my life in general because I travel so much.
“So being able to have a family, to have friends to have someone to talk to. Or people to talk to, you know, when you’re at your lowest point is an extremely great thing. Having a coach is awesome. Having a smart coach is better but having someone who you can talk to and really relate to as well, is the best thing you can have. That’s why you know I still work with my coach Master Bob Schirmer… I’ve been to many many camps in the world. This is easily the smallest training camp I’ve ever been in when it comes to partner wise, coach wise. But this is easily the best I’ve ever had because I finally have the attention that I believe I need to be the best in the world.”
