5 Defining Moments: Tecia Pennington

Tecia Pennington wanted to create “The Tiny Tornado” legacy when she joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster. While she did make some strides, she has not seen that goal through to fruition. Yet she remains a fighter at heart. The UFC women’s strawweight mainstay has waged war against some of the biggest names in women’s mixed martial arts, and she has never been finished. Pennington will face Tabatha Ricci in a UFC on ESPN 56 prelim this Saturday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. It marks her first appearance since April 2022.

Ahead of Pennington’s upcoming battle with Ricci, aa look at five of the moments that have come to define her career to this point:

1. Building Blocks

Pennington trained in karate from the age of 5 to 17 before adding kickboxing training to her arsenal when she was 18. Grappling training followed before she pieced it all together for MMA. She engaged in her first amateur bout against Ivey Turner at Wild Bill’s Fight Night 40 on Sept. 23, 2011. Pennington won the fight by rear-naked choke submission in the second round. That win set the course for an undefeated run in the amateur circuit, as Pennington notched seven straight victories in dominant fashion.

2. A Dominant Run

“The Tiny Tornado” went on to make her professional MMA debut under the Invicta Fighting Championships banner, locking horns with Kaiyana Rain on Oct. 6, 2012. She won the fight by unanimous decision. What followed was a blistering run of peak form, as Pennington toppled divisional stalwarts like Paige VanZant and future UFC women’s strawweight queen Rose Namajunas before vanquishing Felice Herrig, all within the span of a year. She achieved all of those victories by unanimous decision and won the “Strawweight of the Year” honors at the Women’s MMA Awards in 2013.

3. Ticket to Ride

Pennington was among the 11 women signed by the UFC to inaugurate its newly created women’s strawweight division. She was selected by former UFC lightweight title challenger Gilbert Melendez with the second pick and was matched against Randa Markos in her first match on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Pennington lost the fight by unanimous decision. She was then handed a second shot to replace Justine Kish, who injured her knee in training. The American swapped teams, joined Anthony Pettis’ squad and defeated Bec Rawlings in the preliminary round by unanimous decision. From there, she went on to face Carla Esparza in the quarterfinals, losing via majority decision in two rounds.

4. Seizing the Spotlight

Pennington was at her peak when she took on Juliana Lima on July 7, 2017. She struggled in the opening frame, owing to Lima’s grappling prowess and visible size advantage. Pennington managed to dart in and out to land solid strikes but could not quite find her rhythm. “The Tiny Tornado” displayed polished striking in the second round, forcing her opponent to the fence with overwhelming volume. As Lima sat down on a single-leg attempt, Pennington defended and transitioned to the back, securing a rear-naked choke submission at the 0:53 mark of Round 2. She was awarded the “Performance of the Night” honors for the finish.

5. Charting a Resurgence

Pennington held a 10-1 record following her victory over Michelle Waterson-Gomez in December 2017. The following two years proved to be the toughest period of her professional journey as she went on a four-fight losing skid, suffering unanimous decision losses against the likes of Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Weili Zhang and Marina Rodriguez. With rock-solid determination and a firm resolve to overturn the downfall, she returned in 2020 to hatch a unanimous decision triumph over Brianna Fortino. With two more victories over Sam Hughes and Angela Hill, Pennington proved she is here to stay in the 115-pound division and that it will take more than a few losses to derail her course.