UFC Strawweight Tecia Torres Announces Pregnancy With Wife Raquel Pennington

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Ultimate Fighting Championship contenders Tecia Torres and Raquel Pennington wanted to make this year’s Thanksgiving one to remember.

On Thursday, the two simultaneously announced on their Instagram pages that Torres (13-6) was pregnant, and that the baby is due June 2023. According to a statement made to MMA Junkie shortly after the announcement, Torres plans to continue fighting, with her return slated sometime in 2024.

“We have a little extra to be thankful for this year,” Torres wrote. “Happy Thanksgiving from our growing family to yours. Baby Pennington coming June 2023. We are beyond excited and feel incredibly blessed. Mommies love you so much sweet baby and we can’t wait for this life with you.”

Pennington stated, “We have an extra turkey in the oven this year. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. Baby Pennington June 2023.”

Although they joked about it all the way back in 2016 in a series of since-deleted social media posts, the two formally wed in July. They plan on staging a large wedding ceremony next year, and asked for fans to help make it a reality by subscribing to their OnlyFans page. As a result, Torres changed her name to Tecia Pennington, and it remains to be seen if she will still compete under the name of Torres in the Octagon when she fights again.

“Meet my beautiful wife,” Torres said in July, posting pictures of their day in El Paso, Texas, which included Pennington shaving the words “I Do” and rings into the back of her head. “Just call me Mrs. Pennington. We made it official today. I married my greatest love. I can’t wait for these next chapters of life together baby. Te Amo Mucho Mucho.”

The 33-year-old Torres last set foot in the cage in April, where she dropped a contentious split decision to Mackenzie Dern. The defeat put an end to a three-fight win streak from 2020 to 2021, where she beat Angela Hill, Sam Hughes and Brianna Fortino in the span of under 14 months. Of note, her victory over Sam Hughes, where she forced Hughes’ corner to call the fight at the end of the opening frame, marked Torres' first career knockout.