Despite getting his hand raised after his UFC debut on Saturday night, Torrez Finney finds himself having to defend his performance in the aftermath of UFC Vegas 105.
Finney (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), known to a lot of fans as the fighter who had to run the gauntlet on Dana White’s Contender Series a record three times before earning a contract with the UFC, finally debuted inside the Octagon when he took on Robert Valentin (10-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC).
Finney dominated in the grappling exchanges but failed to do much else. While he was never in danger of losing to Valentin, his lack of activity drew swathes of criticism from UFC fans, something “The Punisher” is acutely aware of.
“I’d rather have an ugly ‘W’ than a good ‘L,'” Finney told reporters at Saturday’s post-fight news conference. “One, we were really confident in my area, obviously, getting it to the ground. I felt like I was the better grappler, no question. He did some things better in situations than I expected, but also, there was a lot of missed opportunities for me on the ground, and I didn’t take advantage of it. There’s a lot of things I got to grow on. I think I gave him too much confidence in areas, and I didn’t execute.”
Finney controlled Valentin for the overwhelming majority of the bout but only landed four significant strikes over the entire fifteen minutes, a record low for a decision-winning fighter in the UFC.
One judge, Tony Weeks, even scored the fight 30-27 for Valentin, given the lack of damage imposed by Finney, meaning the bout ended in a split-decision.
“It was a weird performance,” Finney said. “That was a dud, in my honest opinion. You know, it happens. I ain’t gonna lie, I feel great. This is the best I’ve felt going into a fight, just was a dud. I felt way worse than this going into a fight, and I’ve had an incredible performance. … Tonight was one of those type of nights.
“Like I said, came out with the victory, that’s the main thing, but just got to grow. I’ve only been fighting since October 2020. Heck, my coach was just telling me: less than five years, you’re already in the UFC, and a UFC win. Take that, you’ve got to run with it, but we got to grow from it.”
