Tecia Pennington, formerly Torres, returned to action for the first time since 2022, and first time since becoming a mother, when she took on Brazil’s Tabatha Ricci at UFC St. Louis at the Enterprise Center on Saturday.
The strawweight match-up appeared on the preliminary card, and represented a chance for Pennington, married to UFC women’s bantamweight champ Raquel Pennington, to reintroduce herself to the division she had long been a staple in.
In the opening frame, the returning Pennington put on a high-volume striking showcase, though Ricci was more than happy to match that pace. Close to 100 strikes were thrown by Pennington in the opening round, with the “Tiny Tornado” absolutely living up to her name. The back-and-forth battle played out mainly on the feet, though Riccci did late a takedown just ahead of the buzzer.
Round two saw Ricci take the action to the fence, looking to drop down for a takedown attempt. This became a battle of attrition of sorts, neither fighter making much progress through a solid two minutes of grappling. Even when they briefly came off the cage, Ricci took the fight back there again. The bulk of the round might have been seen as a contest of wills, or less favorably, a whole lot of wall and stall, though there was enough action for the ref to allow the action to play out.
They’d head back to center in the final minute, finishing off with a couple of striking exchanges.
Again, barely a minute into the third, Ricci had the fight against the fence. Working with underhooks and battling for head position, Ricci looked to land a takedown that just wouldn’t present itself. Some knees and short punches were mixed in this time around, as Ricci drove in on the hips while Pennington pushed down on the head. Pennington at one point elevated her left leg to brace against the fence, doing everything in her power to fend off the takedown. And fend it off she did, with the pair returning to center moments later.
In the final minute, Pennington threw punches in bunches then briefly reversed a takedown, with the pair fighting to the final horn. In the end, it was “Baby Shark” Ricci taking a bite out of the returning fighter by way of a split decision.
Official Result: Tabatha Ricci def. Tecia Pennington by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
