New UFC middleweight Torrez Finney is a giant fan of The Rock.
Finney earned a contract after turning 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 off his post-fight interviews by paying homage to The Rock’s well-known WWE tagline, “For those who scent what The Rock is cooking,” by altering it too, “For those who can scent what Torrez is cooking.”
Rising up enjoying professional wrestler on the again yard trampoline, it was meant to be.
“Effectively, I’m a giant skilled wrestling fan,” Finney advised MMA Preventing. “I’m massive 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 of bit, what helps me be capable of communicate in that promo sort method. We used to do 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 enjoying like that.”
Finney was a child when The Rock, actual identify Dwayne Johnson, was making his preliminary run within the sports activities leisure juggernaut. However with a number of returns to WWE, Finney received to expertise the arrogance 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 received 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 reducing and I might simply sit there and watch that and I used to do a few of that sort of stuff in highschool. … However after I was entering into combating, I stated, ‘Man, I would like to consider one thing [to say],’ and it was my second newbie combat. I received the title and certainly one of my associates was like, what you gonna say after the combat? And I stated, ‘I received one thing. Ever since I used to be a child, I wished to do that.’
“[After] my second newbie combat, I stated, ‘I’ve been wanting to do that my total life,’ and I am going ‘For those who 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 call towards Cam Rowston, the place White ripped Finney saying that he would get “completely decimated” within the UFC.
Finney has all the time remained true to himself. Because the wins saved piling him, so was the thrill for his post-fight interviews. When he makes his eventual octagon debut, Finney could have the possibility to say his signature after the largest second of his skilled life.
“I simply saved it rolling as a result of youngsters and folks was like, ‘Man, I’ve been wanting ahead to that,’” Finney defined. ”They look ahead to that, ‘For those who can scent.’ I even have followers, they look ahead to that, ‘For those who can scent what Torrez is cooking.’
“So it’s actually cool man. And yeah, it’s humorous like how the stuff you’ll do as a child is now being gravitated and translated to what you do as an grownup now.”
