White Announces Release of Torres Following 'Rape' Tweet

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Bantamweight Miguel Torres has been released by the UFC, according to UFC President Dana White.

White revealed to Sports Illustrated on Thursday that the former World Extreme Cagefighting 135-pound champion will no longer compete for the world's largest promotion.

“Miguel Torres has been cut from the UFC and his career with us now is over,” White told SI.com.

Known for possessing an active Twitter handle, Torres was released following one particular tweet on Wednesday.

"If a rape van was called a surprise van, more women wouldn't mind going for rides in them," Torres wrote. "Everyone likes surprises."

The news comes on the heels of a pair of controversial comments made by UFC fighters about sexual abuse. Roughly one month ago, former 205-pound champion Forrest Griffin tweeted that “rape was the new missionary.”

According to White and Griffin, the fighter's questionable statement was intended to express his disbelief at how commonplace the crime had become after viewing multiple television media reports on various rape cases. Griffin later apologized for his comment and made a donation to the Las Vegas Rape Crisis Center.

Yesterday, another former UFC light heavyweight champion made a separate controversial remark at the UFC on Fox 2 press conference in Chicago.

Main event competitors Rashad Evans and Phil Davis began trading barbs near the end of the event, each predicting how the fight would go. Evans assured “Mr. Wonderful” that he would beat him up standing, predicting that the former Penn State University wrestler would go to his grappling base to avoid the strikes.

In articulating that point, Evans made a reference to the widely publicized Jerry Sandusky case, in which the former PSU assistant football coach stands accused of sexually abusing multiple underage boys during his time at the institution. “I guarantee you'll be the first one to take a shot, because I’m going to put my hands on you worse than that dude did to them other kids at Penn State,” Evans said.

White said he spoke with Evans after the press conference and the fighter explained his intentions behind the comment.

“Rashad walked me through what he did...Rashad wrestled for Michigan [State]. [Davis] went to Penn State. [Evans] wanted to slam [Davis] and Penn State,” White told SI.com. “Rashad is sorry for what he said. He truly is. He said it in the heat of the moment. He definitely took the wrong choice of words. He knows it, and I know he knows it.”

Regarding Torres' tweet, White said that he did not see the humor in the bantamweight's apparent joke.

“There’s no explanation for that. There’s absolutely nothing I could say to make any sense of that,” White said. “And the fact that he even thinks that’s funny or that’s a joke, it disturbs me. It bothers me.”

Prior to his release, Torres, 30, had won three of his last four. Prior to the WEC's merger with the UFC, Torres became one of the company's most successful fighters, winning the promotion's bantamweight title in 2008 and defending the belt successfully thrice before being knocked out by Brian Bowles in 2009. Torres posted a 2-1 Octagon record in 2011, most recently outpointing Nick Pace at UFC 139 on Nov. 19.