90 seconds.
That’s how long Torrez Finney needed to run his record to 8-0 on Saturday night in Jacksonville.
After starting his Combat Night event against Tyson Jeffries with a bit of back and forth between the two, Finney put a quick end to the bout as it moved toward the center of the cage. There, a forceful punch by Finney to the head of Jeffries leveled Finney’s experienced opponent, giving the former JCHS standout another notch in his still unbeaten record.
“Never in my life did I think I’d have a walk-off knockout, especially so early in my career,” Finney said on Sunday night after arriving back home in Chattanooga less than 24 hours after his win. “It’s one of those things that just happens. This was a home run for me. Coming off my last fight, lots of people were watching to see what I have improved with. I think this fight was perfect for me. I was able to go out and handle business. You can’t ask for a better performance.”
Going against an opponent with more than 30 fights to his name, Finney knew nothing could be taken for granted, and that was part of his approach as the bout began.
“The plan was to get a finish on the feet; that was the plan going in. This was a fight to allow myself to open it up a little more. He was experienced, he was dangerous, I couldn’t take him lightly. He won his last fight by ground and pound,” Finney said. “I was like. ‘OK, if I get in trouble, I can look to my grappling. But i knew that if I could control the center of the cage, utilize my hands and set him up, that I could and make a knockout happen.”
Saturday was Finney’s first fight since last October in the Dana White contender series. Although that event was streamed on ESPN Plus, the in-person audience was small. That wasn’t the case on Saturday at the Prime Osborne Convention Center as the in-person crowd was larger and more lively. It’s something that Finney said he relished.
“The atmosphere was phenomenal; that whole place was packed. It was really cool to see,” Finney said. “In the contender series, you don’t fight in front of that many people in the arena, so being in that crowd again, that’s what you look forward to. It was fun to have that back again.”
