Manny Tapia was forced to withdraw this evening from a highly anticipated bout against WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (32-1) because of a knee injury sustained while training for their showdown at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif., on June 1.
Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2) has agreed to replace Tapia on short notice and take on Torres at WEC 34: “Faber vs. Pulver” for the 135-pound strap.
OH SHIT! I never thought about it, but Maeda actually matches up pretty damn well with Torres. Maeda is tough to takedown, is great at scrambles, is very athletic, and has good standup with good power. His biggest weaknesses are he seems to choke in his biggest fights and he gets too wild at times, getting himself into bad positions. But damn, stylistically, he matches up well with Torres.
Maeda also has some of the best timing in all of MMA. I'll never forget his flying knee on Soca. He was chasing Soca with punches, running at him. As soon as Soca changed levels to go for a takedown, Maeda (MID-STRIDE!) leaps in the air and splits Soca's nose open with a perfect flying knee. His finish on some poor fool in the Neo Blood Tournament was a thing of absolute beauty as well. Just a gorgeous combination. His kick on Taisho... There are many examples. He has excellent timing.
Torres has to be the favorite, but Maeda has a legit shot.
Faber/Pulver, Torres/Maeda, and Pequeno/Aldo all on the same card? This is nuts!
