UFC 126's Banuelos says nerves not a factor, ready to finally make octagon debut

As a 13-time veteran of the now-shuttered WEC organization, perennial bantamweight contender Antonio Banuelos patiently watched as the promotion grew from fledgling local to show to the UFC's sister organization.

But after more than eight years as a WEC property, Banuelos will now finally have a chance to fight for the sport's biggest promotion, and the Californian admits he's fired up for the opportunity.

"I've been training for this fight since November," Banuelos told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "We've been going at it. I was ready to kill somebody."

Training was so intense for the matchup, Banuelos decided to pack up camp a few days aery.

"Day in and day out, it's the same thing," Banuelos said. "I was like, 'Let's get away early.'"

And so Banuelos left California a few days earlier than expected and settled in to Las Vegas, where he'll face former WEC champion Miguel Torres on the main card of this weekend's "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort" event.

Both fighters make their UFC debuts, but as a longtime training partner of UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, Banuelos knows exactly what he's getting into. And while many first-time UFC fighters must contend with the dreaded "octagon jitters," Banuelos he's prepared to control that nervous energy.

"You've got to remember that hanging out with Chuck's camp and sitting ringside and waiting for him to come out and watching the crowd, the energy of the crowd, and being a fighter at the time, the only thing going in the back of my head was, 'Oh my God, I want to fight in front of a UFC crowd; This is crazy, the energy in the room,'" Banuelos said. "I like it. I like big crowds. It gets me going. This is what I wanted."

Torres enters the fight just 1-2 in his past three contests, but the former WEC champ appeared rejuvenated and re-focused in a September win over Charlie Valencia.

Meanwhile, Banuelos has won four of his past five fights, and the lone loss came to recent title challenger Scott Jorgensen. Banuelos hopes a victory over Torres will leave his name on the short list of candidates vying for Dominick Cruz's title.

"I believe this win over him will get me either a title shot – depending on how the fight goes – or right next in line," Banuelos said. "This is a big one."

As with most of his fights, the 5-foot-3 Banuelos will be facing a significant reach disadvantage against the lanky Torres. However, Banuelos said he's unconcerned with the challenge and knows precisely how to approach it.

"Head movement and footwork," Banuelos said. "I'm used to being the shorter fighter. It's very rare that I get another bantamweight that's my height. They all seem to be taller than me."

Nevertheless, Banuelos and his team fell like Torres presents an excellent stylistic matchup.

"Miguel is a great opponent," Banuelos said. "Chuck and John (Hackleman) have always liked that fight for me.

"He has his flaws. Everybody has flaws. I guess this fight, I'm going to have to use my strengths and stay away from his strengths. I've got to stay out of his world and bring it in to mine."