Four straight wins landed her a championship opportunity against Dana White’s Contender Series alum Vanessa Demopoulos under the LFA banner, where she came up short, but a quick return to the win column put her at the top of the UFC’s call sheet when the opening opposite Torres came up.
Being able to go from “zero to UFC” in less than five years is a massive accomplishment and speaks to both Hughes’ natural talent and the commitment she’s shown to her latest sporting endeavor.
“Being a D-I athlete takes sacrifice, discipline, time-management, so all those things, I’ve already dealt with for like 12 years because I ran in junior high, high school, and then college, so all those things were ingrained in my routine and daily habits, so the sacrifice has never been an issue for me.
“I’m very grateful and very happy that I had those experiences because the nerves of stepping in and seeing Tecia across the cage from me were nothing new,” continued Hughes. “It was just another thing for me where, ‘I’m going to give my best, she’s going to give her best, and we’re going to see who ends up at the finish line first.’
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“I’m super-grateful for that kind of experience and I think it put me on the fast track to do something like this at the highest level, and I fully intend to be here for years on end.”
While the strawweight finisher knows her high school and collegiate athletic pursuits gave her a strong foundation to build upon when she walked into her first MMA gym and fell in love with the sport, Hughes also is quick to credit her coach, Eddie Grant, and woman’s MMA pioneer Barb Honchak for helping her reach the biggest stage in the sport in less than five years.
“I think the people that I’ve surrounded myself with have pushed me on this fast track, and working with Barb early on in my career helped to push me and grow so quickly,” began the Catalyst MMA representative, who was initially slated to face Emily Whitmire in February before the TUF 26 alum was forced to withdraw. “There was so much thrown at me so quickly that I either had to step up to the plate or quit, and I stepped up.
“I was like, ‘Let me just be a sponge for the next two or three years and get this high-level training’ and I think that my competition as an amateur and early on as a pro helps tremendously.
“There were months where I was getting my *** beat on a daily basis, which was awesome,” she continued with a laugh. “I’m so thankful to call Barb a friend and a training partner. Whenever she first came into the gym, I was in awe, like ‘the first Invicta flyweight champion is in our gym.’ She was so kind, so nice.
