"I really felt I had rounds 1 & 3" - Tecia Torres issues statement following split-decision loss against Mackenzie Dern

Tecia Torres feels she did not do everything she could to win against Mackenzie Dern. Their strawweight bout at UFC 273 ended in a split-decision win for Dern.

Following her loss, Torres posted on Instagram stating that she felt she had won the first and third rounds:

“My heart is heavy I wish I would have pushed a little more tonight. Came up short in a split decision. I really felt I had rounds 1 & 3. Stats agree as well ehhh s**t happens when you leave it to the judges. Back to the gym. I am proud of my improvements."

According to official stats, Dern threw 164 strikes in total, landing only 58 of them. Meanwhile, Tecia Torres threw 126 strikes with 78 of them hitting their mark.

‘The Tiny Tornado’ was also more accurate with her significant strikes, landing 76 of 124 to Dern's 50 of 156. There were no takedown attempts from either fighter. However, Mackenzie Dern made three different submission attempts.

The loss to Dern ended Torres' three-fight win streak. Coming into the bout, she had defeated Angela Hill, Sam Hughes and Brianna Fortino.

Tecia Torres also congratulated her fiance Raquel Pennington on her victory. Pennington fought on the preliminary card at UFC 273 and defeated Aspen Ladd by unanimous decision. Torres wrote in the same post:

"Congrats on the win to my beautiful @raquel_pennington you displayed beautiful boxing tonight. ❤️ We live a crazy a** life but I wouldn’t change it for anything! Born For This! ⬅️”

Check out Tecia Torres' full Instagram post below:

---

Mackenzie Dern wants to return in five months

During her post-fight press conference, Dern was asked when she plans to return to the octagon. She replied that she wants to return in five months. The Phoenix-born strawweight is looking to spend some time improving her skills and see how events unfold in the division:

“Yeah, I mean I would like to come back maybe like five months from now, you know. Give me some time to really, you know, work on lot of things. I have so much to take away from this fight too again… More to just to see kind of what’s gonna happen with the next couple of fights of the girls in the division… Realistically, for the division maybe [I will return] in five, six months.”

Watch Mackenzie Dern’s full post-fight press conference below:

With her win over Torres, Dern's overall professional MMA record now stands at 11-2. The 29-year-old jiu-jitsu ace is 7-2 in the UFC, having made her promotional debut in 2018.