WEC bantamweight champ Torres to defend belt in December

Top ranked bantamweight Miguel Torres is gearing up to defend his World Extreme Cagefighting title in December, and while his opponent has yet to be named, he expects it to be undefeated Manny "The Mangler" Tapia.

"I fight Dec. 3. I don't know who I'm going to fight yet, but I'm going to fight whoever they bring to me," Torres told MMAWeekly.com. "I don't know the venue. I think it might be in Vegas."

While he will fight whomever the WEC lines up, he has his sights set on Tapia. "Like I said, I'm down to fight whoever they have in my weight class. I think Manny Tapia will be an exciting fight because he'll want to bang the whole time. Brian Bowles too, is very explosive standing up and has a good ground game. But I'm hoping to fight anybody," said Torres.

"They have a long list of guys for me to fight, but I think the guy next in line is going to be Manny Tapia. I think him first and then after that, whoever."

Defending his title and the opening of his new gym are Torres' main focus these days, but the Chicago resident thinks a super fight with WEC featherweight titleholder Urijah Faber will happen somewhere down the line.

"I'd love to do that fight, man. I know it's going to have to happen eventually," commented the 135-pound fighter. "He's the champion in his weight class. I'm the champion in mine. It's a super fight. It's going to have to happen."

Torres has a 34-1-0 professional mixed martial arts record and became the WEC bantamweight champion on Feb. 13 when he defeated Chase Beebe by guillotine choke in the first round.