UFC strawweight Tecia Torres aiming for Spring 2024 return after giving birth to daughter

LAS VEGAS – UFC strawweight Tecia Torres will be looking to return to action next year after giving birth to her daughter.

Torres (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC), along with her wife and fellow UFC fighter Raquel Pennington, are adjusting to life as new parents. Torres gave birth to their daughter Alayah on June 1. While bringing a child into the world has brought upon a new set of challenges for the fighting couple, both have designs of resuming their careers inside the octagon, with “The Tiny Tornado” eying a comeback in 2024.

“I hope for Spring of next year,” Torres told MMA Junkie and other reporters on the red carpet at the UFC Hall of Fame. “Unfortunately, I had to have an emergency C-section, so that is delaying things a little bit.

“But we hope by September I’ll get back to MMA training, hopefully spar by December. I’m going to spar Raquel first and see how that goes. If it goes well, I’d like to fight in March or April.”

Torres was last in action at UFC 273 on April 9, 2022. The result of that outing was a split decision loss to Mackenzie Dern, which snapped a three-fight streak of wins over Brianna Fortino, Sam Hughes, and Angela Hill.

Torres, who currently holds the No. 15 spot in the USA TODAY SPORTS/MMA Junkie strawweight rankings and No. 9 in the UFC’s promotional rankings, says she won’t be picky about an opponent in her return, as it’s more about getting her name back in the mix among the top fighters.

“Somebody that just gets me a win, I don’t care,” Torres said. “At that point, I need to get back into the rankings and relevant again.”