Coach Javier Torres is openly targeting one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when his fighter Elisha Ellison meets Gable Steveson at UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena.
Torres is preparing Ellison to face Steveson, an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling who will make his UFC debut and enters the card as one of the promotion's biggest betting favorites.
"There's going to be challenges in this game and tough fights," Torres said, before questioning Steveson's transition to MMA. "Yeah, he's an Olympic wrestler, and he won gold and did well, but what has he done in MMA? He hasn't done anything. When he fought Hugo (Lezama) in Mexico, I didn't think he was impressive. He got hit several times and left himself open to hits. Around the three-minute mark, he was already breathing heavily. I told Elisha, and that's what we worked on: we're not going to stop moving in the first round. We're going to touch him over and over and hit him in the body and move. Our job in this fight is to take him into our world and take him to the second round. That's when things will start to change."
Ellison, 5-2 in MMA and 0-1 in the UFC, moved from Washington to train under Torres, working with heavyweights including Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Tyrell Fortune. "We had Waldo in this camp, Tyrell Fortune, who wrestled and has an upcoming fight. ... He and Elisha were competitive and fought hard. I have a lot of heavyweights right now. We did a hard camp, a very good one, and we're well trained physically and mentally."
"I think the pressure is on Gable Steveson," Torres added. "We're the biggest underdog, and we're good with that. We've done the work, and now we just have to show it on Saturday."
