New UFC middleweight Torrez Finney is a giant fan of The Rock.
Finney earned a contract after changing into the primary fighter to earn three wins on Dana White’s Contender Collection, selecting up a first-round TKO of Abdellah Er-Ramy at DWCS Season 8, Week 8. All through his MMA profession, the 25-year-old would log out his post-fight interviews by paying homage to The Rock’s well-known WWE tagline, “If you happen to scent what The Rock is cooking,” by altering it too, “If you happen to can scent what Torrez is cooking.”
Rising up taking part in professional wrestler on the again yard trampoline, it was meant to be.
“Properly, I’m a giant skilled wrestling fan,” Finney informed MMA Combating. “I’m large into WWE, clearly, even AEW. I’ve watched these issues. Now I don’t watch them as religiously as I used to rising up. However rising up, man, with all my cousins, we used to get on the trampoline. If anyone is aware of something about [that], the trampoline is the WWE ring for lots of youngsters. And once they let you know to not do these issues at house, we absolutely didn’t hear.
“So we did all of that stuff at house and we’re there on the trampoline leaping up and down. We do all WWE strikes, and I believe that’s part of, a bit bit, what helps me be capable of converse in that promo kind manner. We used to try this. We used to have our toy mic and we’re like, ‘Man, I’m coming in your birthday, and I’m coming to take that belt — when I’ve that belt with me and all my cousins and we had been taking part in like that.”
Finney was a child when The Rock, actual title Dwayne Johnson, was making his preliminary run within the sports activities leisure juggernaut. However with a number of returns to WWE, Finney obtained to expertise the boldness and star-power Johnson would exude on the microphone.
So when it got here to combating for his first MMA newbie title, Finney knew precisely what to do as soon as he obtained the chance.
“I’m a giant fan of The Rock now, my favourite wrestler is The Undertaker,” Finney stated. “I’m a giant Undertaker fan, however I like The Rock. I like his promo slicing and I might simply sit there and watch that and I used to do a few of that kind of stuff in highschool. … However after I was stepping into combating, I stated, ‘Man, I want to think about one thing [to say],’ and it was my second newbie struggle. I gained the title and certainly one of my pals was like, what you gonna say after the struggle? And I stated, ‘I obtained one thing. Ever since I used to be a child, I needed to do that.’
“[After] my second newbie struggle, I stated, ‘I’ve been wanting to do that my whole life,’ and I’m going ‘If you happen to can scent,’ and I stated, ‘what the champ is cooking,’ as a result of I used to be a champion at the moment.”
Since then, “The Punisher” has gone on to win all 10 of his professional bouts, together with his first two outings on Contender Collection. After ending Yuri Panerov in October 2023, Dana White elected to not award Finney a contract, asking him to get extra expertise first. Finney returned in August to win a choice towards Cam Rowston, the place White ripped Finney saying that he would get “completely decimated” within the UFC.
Finney has at all times remained true to himself. Because the wins stored piling him, so was the joy for his post-fight interviews. When he makes his eventual octagon debut, Finney might have the prospect to say his signature after the largest second of his skilled life.
“I simply stored it rolling as a result of children and other people was like, ‘Man, I’ve been wanting ahead to that,’” Finney defined. ”They stay up for that, ‘If you happen to can scent.’ I even have followers, they stay up for that, ‘If you happen to can scent what Torrez is cooking.’
“So it’s actually cool man. And yeah, it’s humorous like how the stuff you’d do as a child is now being gravitated and translated to what you do as an grownup now.”
