Tecia Torres has given the MMA world a different look in her most recent performances, and it hasn’t come by coincidence.

“The Tiny Tornado” is currently on a two-fight winning streak and she’s looked much improved in those two performances. Torres (11-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) scored a stoppage against Sam Hughes in her most recent fight in December and dominated former Invicta FC champion Brianna Van Buren in a unanimous decision win earlier in 2020.

The back-to-back wins likely saved Torres’ UFC career. She was on a four-fight skid that had her winless for almost two years. Although Torres did have a tough lineup during her skid, the 31-year-old has made some key changes to turn her career around.

“I think the change was in my mentality,” Torres told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I had issues before with believing in me, and now I feel like I can do anything I want.

“I feel like one day, I’ll be champion at strawweight. I did have four defeats against Weili Zhang, Marina (Rodriguez), Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) and Jessica Andrade, and the four of them are some of the very best in the UFC. I feel like I’m the only strawweight who’s fought against all the champions. I fought Carla (Esparza), Joanna, Weili, Jessica and Rose (Namajunas).”

Torres is a veteran in women’s MMA and has been testing her skills against the very best for some time. She admitted it was tough dealing with the string of defeats and said it put her at a bad place in her career.

“During that time, I had a depression and I had no motivation to continue forward,” Torres said. “I didn’t want to retire, but I did want to take time off from fighting. I didn’t want to go to training and I didn’t want to hear anything about the UFC.

“I did know that I needed to change my mentality. At that time, I was talking to a counselor who was helping me, and after that I feel like my mentality changed. Now I feel great. I have two wins, and I think one day we’ll have a Boricua champion in the UFC.”

Torres said she’s in full swing and more motivated than ever before. She was scheduled to fight Angela Hill in a rematch at UFC 256 in December, but Hill tested positive for COVID-19. Instead, Torres fought and beat Hughes.

Torres wouldn’t mind getting booked again with Hill, but hopes to get a higher ranked opponent. She thinks she’s two good wins away from a title shot.

“I’d like to fight as soon as possible and I’d like to fight against someone that’s above me in the rankings,” Torres said. “I’d like to fight someone like Carla Esparza, Michelle Waterson, Claudia Gadelha, Yan (Xiaonan).

“I was talking to the matchmaker and I was told many of the top girls can’t fight – they have fights booked. So I might fight Angela Hill again. If not, I might have to wait until May or June to get someone that’s above me in the rankings. If not, I won’t like to fight anyone that’s not above me.”