Why Torrez Finney felt like a UFC fighter before he got the contract

LAS VEGAS – Torrez Finney stepped into the cage for his third fight in Dana White's Contender Series knowing he wouldn't leave the UFC Apex without a contract to fight in the premier organization in the world.

In fact, Finney (10-0) already felt like a UFC fighter before he scored a first-round TKO win over Abdellah Er-Ramy. It was Finney's third win on DWCS, a first in the show's history.

“I'll be honest with you, along with my teammate Trevor Peek, who had a lot of these experiences with him – I'll be honest with you, I feel like I'm UFC already,” Finney told reporters during a post-fight press conference . “If you fight three times in the Contender Series, you literally get a four-fight contract (in the UFC). Hell, I've already done three of them, so I feel like I'm in the UFC already.

“The walk and all that stuff made me feel good. I thought I've done this enough times. When the UFC debut comes, there are obviously a few more things going on that week and that day, but for me it will be the same. It's like I've been looking forward to it. I know what I’m ready for.”

Although he felt at home, Finney actually wasn't until UFC CEO Dana White finally made the undefeated middleweight a contract offer after his third win. It took a decision, a submission and a TKO to convince the boss he was ready to take part in the promotion.

Despite being rejected twice, Finney said that beating Er-Ramy (7-2) is his main focus and he has no intention of deviating from his game plan just to impress the boss, as some fighters in the series often do.

“For myself, I said, you know, let’s just go out here and do it to me,” Finney said. “The W is the most important thing. I always go here and the W is always at the top of my list. As long as I wanted to go out there and win, everything else took care of itself and I just made sure of that. I thought if we went out here and just did Torrez Finney, no one could fool you.”