​Brace yourselves. Coach Javier Torres is sounding the alarm to the MMA world that a major upset is on the horizon at UFC 329. Torres, best known for guiding Waldo Cortes-Acosta toward UFC title contention, has another fighter under his tutelage: Elisha Ellison. For their first assignment as a duo, they were charged with spoiling the UFC debut of Olympic gold medalist in wrestling Gable Steveson. Steveson, now 3-0 in MMA and 0-0 in the UFC, is being hailed by many as a future UFC champion. He steps into Saturday’s UFC 329 at the T-Mobile Arena as one of the promotion’s most heavily favored athletes in history.
To many observers, Ellison’s task appears almost impossible. He stands at 5-2 in MMA with a 0-1 mark in UFC, facing a man who has captured the imagination of fans and pundits alike. Yet Torres does not share the same perception. “There will be challenges and tough fights in this game,” he told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “Yeah, he’s an Olympic wrestler who won gold and performed well, but what has he accomplished in MMA? He hasn’t done anything yet. When he fought Hugo Lezama in Mexico, I didn’t find him impressive. He absorbed several hits and left himself open. By the three-minute mark, he was already breathing hard. I told Elisha, and that’s exactly what we worked on: we’re not going to stop moving in the first round. We’re going to touch him repeatedly, strike the body, and keep moving. Our plan is to drag him into our world and push this fight into the second round. That’s when the dynamics will really shift.”
Ellison relocated from Washington to train specifically under Torres, joining a camp anchored by a cadre of heavyweights. Torres believes they secured ideal training partners in UFC heavyweight contender Cortes-Acosta and UFC rookie and standout college wrestler Tyrell Fortune. “We’re going to test him,” Torres stated. “We had Waldo in this camp, and 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 conducted a rigorous camp, a very solid one, and we’re physically and mentally prepared.”
Beyond refining technique, Torres has also immersed Ellison in extensive mental preparation. Ellison has admitted that nerves played a role in his UFC debut loss, and Torres is leaning into the underdog role, believing it will work to their advantage on fight night. “I think the pressure is on Gable Steveson,” Torres said. “We’re the biggest underdogs, and we’re comfortable with that. We’ve put in the work, and now we just have to demonstrate it on Saturday.”
This piece originally appeared on MMA Junkie as part of coverage surrounding Elisha Ellison’s coach asserting that Gable Steveson hasn’t accomplished anything in MMA yet, a stance aimed at boosting the narrative ahead of UFC 329.