GETTING kicked in the head and choked is bad enough but for feisty mother of two Bec Rawlings the hardest part of her international Mixed Martial Arts career is saying goodbye to her kids.

It’s even tougher over Christmas when she’s thousands of kilometres away and other women are lining up, trying to knock out her teeth.

The little UFC fireball leaves the Coorparoo Gym of her mentor Harry Costi next week for a gruelling training camp leading into her next bout against world No. 7 Tecia Torres, from Florida.

The straw-weight bout takes place on the UFC Fight Night in Houston on February 5 which will be televised on Fox Sports and which will be topped by a featherweight showdown between Chan Sung Jung and Dennis Bermudez.

media_camera Bec Rawlings.

Bec’s children, Zake, 8, and Enson, 5, will have to spend Christmas without their mum as she tries to improve her world ranking of 24.

But she says Santa already came early for her opponent.

They fought two years ago on the television reality show The Ultimate Fighter 20 and Bec reckons Tecia was given a gift decision.

“I thought I won and I still do,’’ she said yesterday.

“I feel that I got ripped off and I’ve always wanted a rematch and I’m very excited to get a rematch and turn it around.

“Tecia is a very good points-scoring striker. She has a karate background — she likes to come in, score points and get out of danger quickly. She’s never won a fight inside the distance in her MMA career, only by decisions. I’m the opposite to that. I’m very aggressive. I go in there and try to finish the bout as soon as possible.’’

She said the toughest part of the fight would be missing her children.

“It’s really tough over Christmas but it has to be done,’’ she said.

“To fight and beat the best I have to train in California and unfortunately it’s a sacrifice I have to make.’’

media_camera (L-R) Bec Ralings blocks a kick from Paige VanZant in their women's strawweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Rogers Arena.

The 27-year-old is training twice a day, six days a week with her partner Adrian Rodriguez, an unbeaten boxer who has won two Queensland titles.

She is a colourful athlete, 52kg of limitless aggression, with a big blood red heart on her throat, a revolver and garter belt inked on her thigh and leopard spots down one arm.

As she focuses on revenge, Bec will spend six weeks training at the Alliance MMA gym at Chula Vista, California, just across the border from Mexico.

It was her training headquarters before her last fight with American Paige VanZant (VanZant) but the hard work couldn’t save Bec when VanZant kicked her in the head in Round 2 and won by stoppage at the 19,000-seat Rogers Arena in Vancouver on August 27.

“I got caught with something reckless. I was winning the first round and I went into the second round and got caught off guard with a kick,’’ she said. “It happens.’’

Bec grew up in Tasmania and went from wild child to a headline act in the UFC after taking up the sport to lose weight following the birth of son Zake.

She moved to Brisbane in 2011 and has had 12 fights for seven wins.