UFC straw-weight Tecia Torres has a big fight coming up at UFC 188 against Angela Hill on June 13th. The bout will be Torres’ second in the UFC following a stint on the Ultimate Fighter. While doing media rounds in Los Angeles, “Tiny Tornado” was asked he opinion Paige VanZant. As you can imagine Torres did not hold back on her feelings towards VanZant, the UFC’s treatment of her, and if she is jealous of all the attention she is getting.
VanZant was dominant in her win over Felice Herrig this past Saturday and was the star of the show. The question on everyone’s mind was how the UFC would handle her moving forward.”If she got a title shot, I think that would be crazy,” Torres said during a media lunch. “I don’t think ‘Daddy Dana’ would give her a title shot, because he doesn’t want to see her die.”
Torres is referring to the champion of the straw-weight division Joanna Jedrzejczyk who has a perfect 9-0 record and won the title by dismantling Carla Esparza at UFC 185. Many agree that Joanna’s stand-up game is on a world-class level and it would be tough for VanZant, let alone any fighter, to match the champion strike for strike.
VanZant is the topic of many heated debates this week and has earned the ire of the other fighters in the division because at only 21 years old and with only two UFC fights under he belt, she already has an individual deal with Reebok. Herrig mentioned VanZant’s deal with Reebok many times leading up to their fight and called “12 Gauge” nothing more than a hype machine. This lead to many fans simply pegging Herrig as jealous and bitter. It was also a topic brought up by Torres, “People are going to say I’m jealous, but I’m going to say it: Yeah, I was a little jealous.”
Torres went on to add about the marketability of VanZant and UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who also has an individual deal with Reebok, “It’s kind of crazy to see the amount of attention they got just because the looks that they portray. But that’s what sells. That’s what’s going to make the company money and in return I guess that’ll make me money in the end, in the long run.”
Torres is undefeated in her professional career and sports a 5-0 record. One of those wins even came at the expense of VanZant. The two met in 2013 at “Invicta FC 4” where Torres took home a unanimous decision victory. When asked about a potential rematch with VanZant, Torres seemed more than willing to step inside the octagon with her, “She’ll get a rematch and I’m going to do exactly what I did last time — I’m gonna dominate her.”
Time will tell if the UFC will make that rematch happen. Torres is set to do battle against Hill on June 13th in Mexico City, Mexico at UFC 188. As for VanZant there is no word on who or when she will fight again but Torres does have a theory on who will be next for her, “I’m not sure who they’ll put her against next, but I see it being a fight that she could possibly win. I don’t think she’s going to lose. They have a golden girl right now, I guess.”