UFC Fight Night 104's Tecia Torres admits she's not jazzed about rematching Bec Rawlings

HOUSTON – UFC strawweight Tecia Torres is looking at her resume – not her opponent – as motivation for her upcoming fight.

Torres, the No. 8 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, sat out for 10 months after her first pro loss, which came this past April in a rematch against former “The Ultimate Fighter 20” castmate Rose Namajunas. When the promotion came calling with a rematch against her “TUF 20” opponent Bec Rawlings, she didn’t jump for joy.

“I mean, she’s an all-around decent fighter,” Torres (7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) told MMAjunkie in advance of her do-over against Rawlings (7-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 104 event. “I don’t want to say she’s a bad fighter. She’s a good fighter. She comes in there with talent, but it’s not somebody that motivates me like the opponent, per se.

“What motivates me is that I want to put on a good show and get back in that win column.”

UFC Fight 104 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs live on FS1 following prelims, including Torres vs. Rawlings, on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Torres and Rawlings met two years ago in the opening round of the “TUF 20” tournament. Torres, then the No. 3 seed to No. 8 Rawlings, won a decision with an active kicking attack and resisted efforts to keep her to the mat. She was then eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual show winner and inaugural women’s strawweight champ Carla Esparza.

Although the UFC usually doesn’t rematch opponents unless there’s significant demand, a dearth of contractees in the women’s 115-pound division brought the pair back together. But they were also on the same side of the win-loss column. Paige VanZant knocked out Rawlings this past August, putting her alongside Torres on the road to redemption.

Torres, though, doesn’t think they’re in the same league and wishes she had a little more pull with UFC matchmakers so she could take on a different challenge. But first, she’ll have to get through this one to earn some career capital.

“I just want to go out there and let my work speak for itself,” she said.

Check out the full interview above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 104, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.