Tecia Torres continues to roll after UFC 218, but could be blocked from a title shot after being beaten by the current champion just last year.
Torres' UFC 218 opponent Michelle Waterson was in the same boat -- a notable, name fighter with a big shot at UFC 218, but had already lost to new UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas. After Saturday night, Torres pulled ahead in the race uphill to the champion with a unanimous decision victory in Detroit.
You can see an excerpt from the fight in our Fightful live coverage below.
Round Three: The round begins with Torres attacking Waterson with a two punch combination, Torres eats a few jabs before attacking Waterson with a high kick. Waterson then cracks a kicking Torres with a counter right, Torres grabs Waterson and she holds her against the cage wall. Torres cracks Waterson with a right as they separate, Torres catches a swinging Waterson with a counter right uppercut. Torres backs Waterson into the cage wall with a punching combination, Torres again nails a swinging Waterson with a counter right. Waterson barely connects with an uppercut on a swinging Torres, Torres scores a takedown on Waterson and she gets back control. Torres attacks Waterson with a lot of ground and pound Waterson spins to get top position on Torres as the round ends.
Fightful scores the round 10-9 for Torres (Final Score: 29-28 for Torres)
Official Result: #5 Tecia Torres def. #6 Michelle Waterson by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
"Nothing surprised me. I was faster than her, stronger than her and I felt like she was ready to give up multiple times in that fight," Torres told Fightful.com's James Lynch after the fight. "I felt like I was getting back to the fighter I was in Invicta, the hungry fighter. I'm excited to see what's next for me."
Despite training together, Torres said she'd take on Namajunas again at the drop of a hat. Torres has an ace in the hole -- a previous win over Rose, and a potential rubber match.
"For sure. Business is business. We all know we want the same thing," Torres said, before revealing she would like to fight in three months. When asked about perhaps fighting perennial title contender Claudia Gadelha, Torres said "Yeah I'd fight her, but probably the winner of (Jessica) Andrade and Karolina (Kowalkiewicz) would be good. Really I'd like a title fight, I'd like that grudge match."
Fightful will also have exclusives with Torres' fiancee and likely top Bantamweight title contender Raquel Pennington this week.
See our full UFC 218 results and live coverage at this link, and the Fightful.com post-show Podcast at this link.
