Marina Rodriguez proved she’s more than a prospect in the strawweight division when she scored her biggest win to date against longtime contender Tecia Torres at UFC on ESPN+ 14.
Rodriguez (12-0-1 MMA, 2-0-1 UFC) outworked Torres (10-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) in essentially every facet of the game to take a unanimous decision by scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 to remain undefeated in her young career.
The women’s strawweight bout was part of the UFC on ESPN+ 14 preliminary card at Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay. The event streamed on ESPN+.
The fight opened with a lengthy feeling-out process. It took more than one minute before anyone committed to anything significant, and Rodriguez was the first to attack with some precise kicking. She repeatedly struck Torres to the body with front kicks, while Torres tried to push back by closing the distance. She would have minimal success, and with just over 90 seconds left in the first round would have her first takedown attempt of the fight denied.
With confidence she could keep the fight on the feet, Rodriguez tried to open up her game even more in the second round. She began to push forward on Torres and even mixed in some grappling attempts of her own. Rodriguez used her significant size and reach advantage to push Torres against the fence from the clinch. She didn’t prevail in taking it to the mat, but was more than comfortable breaking away and striking.
With the upper hand on Rodriguez’s side going into the final round, she turned the pressure up on Torres even more. The Brazilian went back to the clinch game and worked some nice knees to the body and even scored with a takedown that appeared to zap the last of Torres’ confidence to rally. Rodriguez took advantage, keeping the pace on Torres for the remainder of the round to close out the largely one-sided contest.
Rodriguez got the job done as a small betting underdog against Torres, who has now dropped four consecutive fights and hasn’t won since December 2017.
“She respected me a lot,” Rodriguez said after the win. “I ended up respecting her, too. … Tecia is a very experienced athlete, a very tough one. I think this win will move me up a few steps within the division.
“It was a great fight. I won the three rounds, I dominated, I didn’t let her take me down. At the end of the day, to have experience, you have to fight. UFC is another level, and fighting here against the best will make me better and better.”
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 14 results include:
- Marina Rodriguez def. Tecia Torres via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Rogerio Bontorin def. Raulian Paiva via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 2:56
- Chris Gutierrez def. Geraldo de Freitas via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Alex da Silva def. Kazula Vargas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Veronica Macedo def. Polyana Viana via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 1:09
