Former BRAVE CF champion Jose Torres tears into rival Nkosi Ndebele, accuses him of ducking

Jose ‘’Shorty’’ Torres has entered 2024 on a mission to recover the BRAVE Combat Federation Bantamweight world title, and will stop at nothing to get that elusive third fight against current titleholder and arch-rival Nkosi Ndebele.

The duo kicked off 2023 on friendly terms and faced off for the vacant belt at BRAVE CF 73, in Bogota, Colombia, on August 12. After five grueling rounds, Torres walked away with the title via split decision. However, the decision came under scrutiny from fans, who demanded BRAVE CF put together an immediate rematch.

Torres vs Ndebele 2 headlined the biggest event of the year, BRAVE CF 80, and Nkosi shined, picking ‘’Shorty’’ apart and causing several cuts, which made the champion call off the bout in the third round, turning Nkosi into the first-ever South-African MMA world champion.

Immediately after the fight, ‘’Shorty’’ expressed his desire to put together the first trilogy in BRAVE CF history, claiming that it was the right thing to do, since he gave Ndebele the immediate rematch. After initially warming up to the idea, Ndebele has seemingly shifted his focus on defending his belt against sambo world champion Velimurad Alkhasov, after the Russian recently announced his permanent move to 135 pounds.

That change of heart from the champion didn’t sit right with his foe, and Torres lashed out at Nkosi, accusing him of ‘’ducking’’.

‘’All I know is Nkosi’s already tried to duck me. I gave you the rematch when I shouldn't have. And then he beats me, he’s like “yeah, I don’t want a rematch, I’m good”. You can't just win and walk away like that. I’m going for that trilogy fight next. And no matter where it's at, I’m going for him’’, said Torres, during a Q & A session on his social media profile.

BRAVE CF has yet to commit to the next step for the Bantamweight division, which has been further enhanced by the additions of Alkhasov and the signing of Tajik superstar Khurshed Nazarov.