Manny Tapia never envisioned himself on such a grand stage fighting such a formidable opponent.

“When I first started fighting, I just wanted to fight one time just to say that I did it,” he told Sherdog.com in an exclusive video interview. “I never thought I’d be fighting at the level that I’m fighting at right now.”

Tapia (10-0-1) will challenge Miguel Torres for the World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight championship at WEC 37 this Wednesday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Spawned by the California-based King of the Cage promotion, the 27-year-old will carry a nine-fight winning streak into the most important bout of his career.

The two world-ranked bantamweights were originally scheduled to meet at WEC 34 in June, but a torn knee ligament forced Tapia to withdraw from the match. Torres went on to batter former King of Pancrase Yoshihiro Maeda in one of the frontrunners for “Fight of the Year.” The missed opportunity only deepened Tapia’s hunger.

“I want this,” he said. “Two knee surgeries later, and they’re giving me the shot again. You better believe I want this. I want this more than anything right now.”

Torres (34-1), one of the world’s top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists, has not tasted defeat in more than five years. The 27-year-old East Chicago, Ind., native has won 15 fights in a row, the last 10 by technical knockout or submission.

“He’s human,” Tapia said. “We’re all human.”

Check out Greg Savage’s full interview to watch Tapia discuss Torres’ world-class ground game, giving fans what they want and how fighting on the Versus network has impacted his approach to MMA competition.