Manuel Torres addresses burning question of Mike Beltran's alleged late stoppage in Drew Dober fight

Manuel Torres (left) reacts to his stoppage win against Drew Dober (right). [Image courtesy: @ufc on Instagram]

Manuel Torres recently shared his thoughts on referee Mike Beltran making a late stoppage during his fight with Drew Dober. Torres asserted that he was carrying out his duties as a fighter, but the Mexican informed Beltran of the harm he had done to Dober.

Torres faced Dober in a lightweight bout in the co-main event of UFC Mexico on March 29. After securing a UFC contract in 2021, Torres was on a three-fight win streak before losing to emerging contender Ignacio Bahamondes at Noche UFC 306 last year. Meanwhile, Dober was coming off a two-fight losing skid, with the most recent being a third-round knockout loss to Jean Silva at UFC Denver.

Their fight was short-lived as Torres dropped Dober with a vicious right hand, however the latter managed to hang onto 'El Loco's' leg. This led to Torres delivering devastating hammer blows, which forced Beltran to step in and end the bout. The 36-year-old appeared wobbly while chatting with the cageside doctor, prompting reactions from MMA personalities online.

Many MMA fans criticized the veteran referee for allowing Dober to absorb Torres' strikes, citing it as a late stoppage. During the post-fight press conference, Torres was asked about Beltran's stoppage. The 30-year-old replied through a translator, saying:

''If you look at the replay, I was watching the referee, to say him like, I'm making a lot of damage to my opponent, but he didn't stop the fight. So, I'm a professional, so I keep doing it. But yeah, ofcourse, I feel that my opponent was little bit down even before the stoppage...it was hard for referee to watch he [Dober] was out or no? but I think that they could work on that.''

Check out Manuel Torres' comments below:

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Swagat is a dynamic MMA writer with a total experience of a little less than a year, which includes time in retail and sports journalism. He holds an MBA degree.

Swagat fell in love with the sport after watching the iconic grudge match between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 in early 2015. Nate Diaz holds a special place in his heart for the Stockton native’s entertaining fan-friendly style and ability to deliver exciting fights regardless of the opponent.

In terms of rule changes in MMA, Swagat advocates for making scores public after each round, adding transparency to judging decisions.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi