Tecia Torres eyes top 5 ranking with a win at UFC 273 over Mackenzie Dern

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tecia Torres has her sights set on the top of the strawweight division, and it starts with a win at UFC 273 over Mackenzie Dern.

Torres (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) has looked fantastic in her three previous outings, an improvement she credits to her focus on mental health and her work with a sports psychologist.

Dern (11-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) presents a tough test, and if successful, Torres hopes to see her name among the top of the division.

“It’s probably the biggest fight to date for me in a while,” Torres told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “I’m excited, I just really want that top 5 spot. I’m gonna get it this weekend.”

Her opponent, Dern, holds the No. 7 slot, while Torres currently sits at No. 12 in the latest MMA Junkie/USA TODAY Sports women’s strawweight rankings.

Torres says she didn’t go through a specialized training camp as understands the strengths and weaknesses of Dern, which she believes makes for a bad stylistic matchup for her opponent. While the path to victory for both strawweights isn’t exactly a secret, execution will be the real challenge according to Torres.

“Preparation’s the same as always,” Torres explained. “Improving in every arena. I’m very confident in my jiu-jitsu, very confident in my grappling, very confident in my striking – no different than any other fight. Obviously, I’m aware that she wants to go to the ground, and obviously, I would like to keep it striking. There’s a lot of things she has to get through to get me on the ground.”

Check out the full media day interview with Torres in the video above.