Manuel Torres joins Paddy Pimblett callout club after bonus-winning finish at UFC Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Just three fights into his UFC tenure, Manuel Torres seems to have this callout thing down pretty well.

Torres (15-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) on Saturday needed less than half a round to take out Chris Duncan (11-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke to open the main card at UFC Fight Night 237 at Mexico City Arena. And after his sixth straight first-round finish, the 28-year-old lightweight from Mexico set his sights on a name plenty of other people are calling out, as well: Paddy Pimblett.

“The truth is, all the people want to fight with him,” Torres told MMA Junkie and other reporters at his post-fight news conference. “He is a person who sells a lot. This is a game, and I see myself fighting with him and with the top 15. That was what came to my mind. (I want to fight again) in June. I’m going to prepare a lot to be ready for June and I promise it is going to be another war.”

Torres came to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series. His 2021 finish of Kolton Englund got him in the door, and he hasn’t disappointed yet with knockouts of Frank Camacho and Nikolas Motta, plus Saturday’s tapout of Duncan.

All three of those finishes have netted Torres extra $50,000 checks in post-fight bonus money, too, so he’s been winning, and he’s been winning in ways that are getting lots of attention.

And while he said the energy of the fans in Mexico City was something to remember, he also appears to be a “just lock the cage door” type of fighter.

“It was really exciting to go out in the tunnel and see all the energy of the Mexican crowd,” Torres said. “It’s amazing and I promise I will be back, and I will be back again with a victory. I like to fight with a sold-out crowd, but it doesn’t change much. I like to fight. If it’s with a sold-out crowd, even better.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.