Torrez Finney has spoken out following his lackluster win at UFC Vegas 105.
The newly-minted UFC Middleweight returned to the UFC Apex on Saturday where had to fight 3 times in front of Dana White on Contender Series.
Despite back-to-back wins on the show, Finney was twice denied a contract from the UFC boss, Dana White once saying he’d get ‘decimated’ in the UFC.
Of course, that was before he eventually signed the 10-0 Finney with a third win in October.
Finney proved White wrong over the weekend, dominating opponent Robert Valentin with his wrestling. Finney scored 8 takedowns out of a whopping 17 attempts and racked up 13 minutes of control time, getting his hand raised by split decision at UFC Vegas 105.
Torrez Finney recalls Dana White quote after upsetting fans
The fight lasting the full 15 minutes, Finney’s performance did leave many fans, including himself, unsatisfied.
Finney threw 4 significant strikes in total and was boo’ed out of the Octagon.
Criticism of his ‘boring’ fight style doesn’t seem to bother Finney after the fight, who’s heard just about it all before fighting on Contender Series.
“I ain’t gonna lie to you. I can read it just to laugh at,” Finney said of online backlash at the post-fight press conference.
“Things like that don’t really get to me mentally.
“I mean, look, I had Dana, you know, said I’d get decimated,” Finney mentioned.
“So, I come here to get a victory. I ain’t leaning too much on my side from that statement after this performance, but I definitely will get better from this.”
Torrez Finney not proud of lackluster performance
A ‘dud’ performance in his eyes, Finney says there was so much things he didn’t take advantage of in the fight.
Finney has fought at the UFC Apex three times already, admitting he may have had Octagon jitters his first time as a fully-fledged UFC fighter.
“I don’t know what it was that was holding me back in mental block, confidence,” Finney questioned.
“But, man, there was so much left to be desired in there for myself.
“I would say it’s a weird performance. That was a dud in my honest opinion. It happens. This is the best I felt going into a fight… Heck, I felt way worse than this going into a fight, and I’ve had incredible performances.
“So, it just be the night sometimes,” Finney added.
