LAS VEGAS – Tecia Torres admits she doesn’t know much about UFC 235 opponent Weili Zhang, despite the Chinese fighter being one the top prospects in the strawweight division.

Zhang (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) announced her arrival to the UFC with a pair of impressive victories that put her in position to get a noteworthy matchup against Torres (10-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who as been an institution in the UFC’s 115-pound weight class since its inception.

Torres said she’s not the type to decline any matchup the organization offers her. But, sitting on a pair of losses, she knew she had to agree to whichever direction the matchmakers wanted to go.

“Honestly, when I got the message from the matchmaker I was like, ‘Who’s that?'” Torres on Tuesday told MMAjunkie Radio. “Then I Google’d her. But I watched her fight against Danielle Taylor. She’s a little dark horse, and I think she’s getting thrown into the fire a little early, but that’s OK. I think she’s going to present a tough match for me. She likes to strike, and I do, too. It’s going to be a good fight.”

UFC 235 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Torres vs. Zhang is part of the main card, which airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass.

Torres, No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA strawweight rankings, closed out 2017 on a three-fight winning streak that had her knocking on the door of a title shot. 2018 was not kind to her, though, as she dropped a pair of decisions to No. 2-ranked Joanna Jedrzejczyk and No. 3 Jessica Andrade.

Although there’s no shame in losing to a former champ like Jedrzejczyk or perennial contender in Andrade, there was still a desire for Torres to make a change in order to right the ship. That change was moving back to her longtime home of American Top Team in Florida.

Torres’ recent camps were spent largely in Colorado Springs with her fiancee, Raquel Pennington. There’s upside to that environment, Torres said, but it’s just not what she needed for UFC 235.

“My last two fights I came up short, and something is not clicking for me,” Torres said. “In Colorado Springs I have one-on-one training, and I really enjoy that, but I lost track of where I need to be in terms of being around other athletes who are on that grind and being around athletes that are my size.

“At ATT there’s scheduled classes with many men and women, and the ego comes out a little bit. You want to do good, you want to impress, and you don’t want to be the low woman on the totem pole so to speak.”

Although Torres is on a skid, she doesn’t see herself in a desperate situation. She said she very much still feels like one of the top contenders at 115 pounds who could get back in title discussion in short order.

“I haven’t got my title shot yet, but I’ve been so close,” Torres said. “With a win over Zhang this weekend I feel like it could put me in talks for something down the line. Maybe not next. There’s a lot of girls who deserve it next, but definitely not far from it. I see me being able to do that within the year.”

For more on UFC 235, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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