ORLANDO, FL - FEBRUARY 24: Tecia Torres relaxes backstage prior to her bout against Jessica Andrade of Brazil during the UFC Fight Night event at Amway Center on February 24, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

UFC strawweight Tecia Torres spoke with FanSided MMA’s Mike Heck on the Extra Rounds Podcast about her upcoming fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC Calgary.

For six years, Tecia Torres has remained one of the best competitors in the strawweight division. Going back to her days in Invicta FC, “The Tiny Tornado” was exactly what her nickname suggested: a fast-moving fighter with intense striking and solid wrestling that could cause a significant amount of damage to anyone in her path.

And she still is.

Since joining the UFC following a stint on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, Torres is 6-2 and has taken on elite competition like current strawweight champion Rose Namajunas, former Invicta champion Michelle Waterson and former title challenger Jessica Andrade. In each of her fights, Torres shows exactly why she’s earned her No. 5 spot in the rankings and is always close to a shot at the belt.

However, her road to the belt may have hit a small bump as Torres dropped a unanimous decision to Andrade at UFC on FOX earlier this year. Having her recent three-fight win streak may have stung initially, but as she has done before, Torres remained positive and looked forward to getting back inside the Octagon against whoever was next.

And who would be next for Torres? Former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC Calgary.

Speaking with FanSided MMA’s Mike Heck on the Extra Rounds podcast, Torres explained why she was briefly taken aback by her next opponent, how she sees the fight going and how its outcome may lead to a title shot.

“I’m pumped. I’m excited. I’m super confident and just ready to get in there and get it done already,” said Torres. “I didn’t see Joanna being the next name, so that surprised me just because I came off that loss, but it is what it is at this point. I’m top five – been top five – and you gotta fight everyone and be able to beat them to get that title shot, so she was the next girl they presented and me and my team took the fight and then ten weeks later, we’re ready to go in there and do it.”

In mixed martial arts competition, there is only one woman who can say she soundly defeated Jedrzejczyk and its Namajunas. After stunning the champion in their first fight at UFC 217 and earning a decision in the rematch at UFC 223, one thing was clear from both of the champion’s performances: she had great gameplans.

Torres recognizes and praises them, but she still believes she will need to do things differently in order to become the second woman to defeat Jedrzejczyk.

“Rose had great gameplans going into both her fights with Joanna and she was able to get it done and for myself, you know, I am a different fighter and there will be different things that I need to do to secure my win on Saturday night so that’s what I plan on doing.”

“I am surprised she’s been quiet and maybe she has been humbled up a little bit.

Jedrzejczyk has remained adamant about recapturing her title and she’s made it clear that her journey back to gold starts with Torres. As we’ve seen in past performances, Jedrzejczyk has decimated her competition with her high volume striking that no one appeared to have an answer for. For some, a question of whether a fight with Jedrzejczyk was too soon for Torres emerged, but Torres put those doubts to rest.

“It doesn’t matter whenever I fight her. She’s gonna be hungry to get her belt back, if she does get her belt back one day – not her belt, sorry – get the belt back one day she’ll be hungry to keep it since she’s lost it and hasn’t had it in her last two fights, but I think that I’m fighting her at a great time,” said Torres. “Going in there and securing a third loss for her and showing that she still isn’t the unbeatable little boogeyman she called herself. It’ll be really awesome and just a great victory to put on my resume.

“I believe that I’ve put in work the last ten years of my career for this fight and even though it’s a non-title fight, I’m fighting a former champion, somebody who reigned dominant for I think five defenses, so to me it’s just as big as a title fight.”

A true test of skill, Torres is aware of the abilities of her next opponent. She also knows her opponent could be looking to make a statement in this fight so she can find her way back to the No. 1 spot in the division.

How will Jedrzejczyk look after suffering two back-to-back losses? Will Jedrzejczyk approach the fight in a way fans have never seen before? What will Jedrzejczyk do?

Whatever the former champion decides, Torres is prepared for it.

“I’m ready for it all. Anything could happen so all those options are readily available in my mind. She might come in there and do something completely different than she’s done in the past,” said Torres. “I don’t think there’s really desperation. I think she’s smarter than that. I think she’ll come in there with a gameplan but we’ll see what it is.”

One difference Torres has noticed about Jedrzejczyk in the buildup to their fight, however, is the lack of trash talk from the latter. Known for her ability to get inside of her opponent’s heads long before the fight, Jedrzejczyk doesn’t mince words when it comes to her opponent and what she intends on doing to them. This time seems different though as Jedrzejczyk has barely uttered a word about or to Torres.

“I am surprised she’s been quiet and maybe she has been humbled up a little bit. I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I’m grateful that none of the trash talking has happened because, like you said, I’m not into that at all, but we’ll see how she acts when we do our media face-offs and do our normal face-off this week. But, whatever she wants to do, I’m not scared so she can bring it.”

Almost a three-to-one underdog heading into the fight, Torres dismisses the odds because they have no bearing on her impending performance. She knows she has a fair chance against Jedrzejczyk and could even best her in things no one may have given her credit for when this fight was announced.

Alongside her physical work, Torres opted to work just as hard on her mental work, employing a sports psychologist to help with her overall game.

“So, I’m being realistic about things. I think striking wise we’re both pretty equal in that department and then I believe I’m gonna match her speed or even be faster than her,” said Torres. “Strength, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, all day, me.

“I’m just more mentally and physically prepared than I’ve been. I started seeing a sports psychologist that’s been helping me a lot and I truly believe that going in there, I’m gonna wreck ship and everybody’s gonna be surprised.”

A win over Jedrzejczyk could very well put Torres closer to a title shot she’s been working so hard for. But it isn’t all she’s focused on going into the fight. When asked whether she thinks this is a title eliminator, Torres said it may be, but is still uncertain about what may come next if she gets this win.

“I believe it could be, so I don’t know. I really thought Andrade deserved the title fight after she beat me, but I saw recently that she’s fighting Karolina in Dallas in September, so I don’t know what the UFC is thinking right now or if Rose is taking time off. I don’t know, and it really doesn’t matter. I just want to go in there and do my thing, get a big victory and from there we’ll see what happens. So, I’m not putting my eggs in one basket to try to get that after this fight. I just really want to go in there and get back on my winning streak.”

As for how she sees the fight going, Torres is obviously foreseeing a win but in a manner she’s only done once before.

“Yeah, with my hand raised. If I could be a genie in a bottle, a submission win.”

UFC Calgary goes down on July 28 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.