Tecia Torres Punishes Michelle Waterson to Earn Unanimous Decision at UFC 218

Tecia Torres took another step towards title contention on Saturday night as she earned a unanimous decision victory against Michelle Waterson at UFC 218.

It was a statement win for Torres, who has been clamoring for a shot at Waterson for quite some time after the strawweights had previously been matched up before but injuries prevented it from taking place.

Torres looked strong throughout the entirety of the fight as she muscled Waterson around the Octagon several times including with her clinch work during the first round.

As she pressed Waterson against the fence, Torres unloaded several big combinations including several elbows over the top as well as feeding the former Invicta FC champion a few uppercuts as well.

The second round saw Waterson land a takedown but she couldn’t do much on the mat except maintain control while Torres was constantly moving and attempting to move up her legs for a submission attempt.

Torres put on her best effort during the final five minutes as she put Waterson on the ground, took her back and started blasting away with bombs from the top. Waterson developed a huge mouse under her eye and late in the third round it appeared that the referee was considering stopping the fight as Torres just continued to pour on the punishment.

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'The Tiny Tornado' @TeciaTorres grabs the unanimous decision win. #UFC218 pic.twitter.com/inbYh6KNff

— UFC (@ufc) December 3, 2017

Time ran out for her to get the finish, but Torres had clearly done enough to earn the victory with the judges returned scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

With her third straight win, Torres inches closer towards a potential title shot and considering she’s split a pair of fights with current champion Rose Namajunas, anything is possible for when she returns in 2018.