LAS VEGAS – Tatiana Suarez discovered lots of classes from her first title alternative, and is now prepared for her second shot.
Suarez (12-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) returns to motion Saturday in the co-main occasion of UFC Fight Night 293 to take on fellow former title challenger Virna Jandiroba. The occasion takes place at the Meta APEX (Paramount+).
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The newest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie girls’s strawweight rankings have Suarez ranked No. 3, with Jandiroba (23-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) proper behind at No. 4. Considering No. 2, former champion Zhang Weili, is on hiatus with no return struggle on the books, Suarez believes this should be a title eliminator to face the present champion, Mackenzie Dern.
“Yeah, absolutely, because we’re at the top of the division other than Weili,” Suarez advised MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “So, I just feel like it makes sense that we’re gonna be next in line for the belt.”
Suarez’s first title alternative came against Weili (26-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) at UFC 312 last February. She lost that struggle by unanimous resolution. It was not only a failed probability to win the title, but the first loss of her skilled profession. Suarez only won the opening spherical on the judges’ scorecards and was blanked after that. For someone who had never skilled defeat in MMA competitors, Suarez took lots from the loss.
“I took a lot from that fight, obviously – um, I guess it’s not obvious, because not everybody does that, but I’m sure you have to,” Suarez said. “There’s just no way you don’t take anything from a loss, you know? For me, it’s helped me in a lot of ways mentally. Obviously, it’s helped me understand things that I also have to improve on, and more so the mindset of it all. Up until that point, I’ve never faced any adversity in a fight. So, that was the first time I’ve ever had to face any type of adversity, and I never stopped coming. I always kept trying, so that’s something to be said as well.
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“So it does show me that I always just never stop. I’m never just going to be like, ‘OK, I’m executed.’ She hit me with some good photographs, and I just stored coming ahead. But I think more importantly, I just really feel like being a expert fighter and having the struggle IQ is important when you have massive fights like that. So, that’s what I undoubtedly discovered out there as properly is like being smarter and preventing smarter.”
Suarez has taken those lessons and applied them to her fights since. She bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Amanda Lemos, and followed that with a second-round submission win over Loopy Godinez. With another title shot potentially hanging in the balance, Suarez is aiming to finish Jandiroba to make it clear who should be next to face Dern (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC), which would be a fresh matchup for the champion.
“I always look to go and end my opponents and have a assertion efficiency,” Suarez said. “I never go out there, I’m like, ‘I just kinda need to only win,’ you know? I always need to go out there and end my opponent, so that’s what I am centered on. That’s where my vitality’s going. That’s what I need to do. I need to end the struggle, make everybody on TV comfortable, I guess – but more so myself.”
This article initially appeared on MMA Junkie: Tatiana Suarez: Mackenzie Dern title shot ‘makes sense’ with UFC Fight Night 293 win
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