Impatience may have cost Tecia Torres a signature fight in the UFC strawweight division, but she hopes all will still work out in her favor in the end.

Torres (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision victory over Bec Rawlings at UFC Fight Night 104 in February, was itching to get back in the octagon as soon as possible. She said a bout with Michelle Waterson was in the works for late summer, but the prospect of waiting wasn’t all that appealing.

So, when it was announced that Amanda Ribas had been pulled from Friday’s Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale bout with Juliana Lima (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) due to a potential USADA violation, Torres pounced on the opportunity to step in, even if it meant jeopardizing a much bigger fight with Waterson (14-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

“I was waiting for a fight since February because I’ve been wanting to fight,” Torres told MMAjunkie Radio. “I saw Amanda Ribas got pulled from the fight, so I asked for this fight. I was like, ‘Sean Shelby, can I have that fight, please?’ I was waiting on Michelle Waterson, but he was saying it would be late August, but he wasn’t really telling me anything.

“I asked if I could take this fight and he said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘At this point, if you want to fight one of the big wigs, you have to beat anybody.’ That’s why I wanted it. I want to fight, I want to get paid. I still want to fight Michelle Waterson. I’ll still take that in late August if I can if I’m OK after this fight.”

The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale takes place Friday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Torres vs. Lima opens the early UFC Fight Pass prelims prior to the televised card on FS1.

A fight between Torres, No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, and Waterson, would have likely been a fight to receive prominent card placement wherever it was booked. Instead, Torres fights Lima in the opening fight of the night, which on the surface seems like a considerable step down.

Torres, however, said she’s not necessarily worried about any of that, because she just wants to fight.

“I like fighting earlier in the night because I can get it over with,” Torres said. “I’m a fan of the sport, so I want to see the other girls fight on the card and some of the other guy fights. I’m excited about that. Being on TV is a little bit easier for my friends and family to watch it, but I understand they want to sell more Fight Pass and get some fights on there. I hope we open up the show with a bang and show women can fight hard.”

The bout with Lima comes somewhat in the middle of a transition stage for Torres. She’s spent almost the entirety of her MMA career training out of Florida’s American Top Team gym, but after her recent engagement to fellow UFC fighter Raquel Pennington, Torres opted to relocate to Colorado.

Although the fight with Lima came together on less than three weeks’ notice, Torres said she’s feeling the positive effects of her new training environment and expects that to carry over into her performance.

“I’m getting a lot more one-on-one attention,” Torres said. “I think my style is going to be a little more evolved this fight. Although I took it on two and a half weeks’ notice, I was still training before that. I feel like with every fight that comes, I’ll just get better and better.

“I felt that in my last fight because I did a month with this camp and a month with my old camp. I felt really good about it, so I’m just excited about how this fight’s going to go. I really feel like I’m going to show the best version of me yet.”

If Torres is successful at the TUF 25 Finale, she would put a fifth UFC victory on her resume, which is more than anyone in divisional history outside of champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The undefeated titleholder has already plowed through most of the top-ranked 115-pound contenders, but has yet to have an encounter with Torres.

“The Tiny Tornado” believes a title shot is imminent as long as she continues to win, and if she can beat Lima and then get her fight with Waterson, she said that’s a pretty solid road map to a fight with Jedrzejczyk (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for the gold.

“I think I’m definitely one or two wins away from getting a title shot,” Torres said. “I’ve been No. 5 (in the UFC’s rankings) now for a while – probably the last few years. … I think that everybody has had that opportunity to fight for the title in the top five – except for me. I think one or two wins and I should be getting that shot for myself.”

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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