Needless to say, Tatiana Suarez’s career path has been frustrating, marred by injury after injury. On the plus side, however, this Saturday’s UFC Nashville marks her third chance at defeating a world champion.
Suarez (9-0) noted that fact during this week’s UFC Nashville media day.
“I’ve already beat a former champion in Carla Esparza, a current champion in Alexa Grasso, and then this will be my third world champion that I’m able to face and get a victory over,” Suarez said ahead of her strawweight scrap against Jessica Andrade.
Suarez is returning to 115lbs in the fight, after making her injury layoff return at flyweight earlier this year. There’s some work to be done to get her weight down, but Suarez is happy to be back in the division she calls home.
“I’m excited to be back at strawweight. The first fight was just getting in there, getting the victory,” noted Suarez. “And then this fight’s just a little bit more focused on my end goal, which is to become a world champion. So I’m excited to be on that track, fighting in my own weight class, and getting a step closer to becoming a world champion at strawweight.”
As for the fits and starts The Ultimate Fighter winner’s career has come in, “I can’t change that,” Suarez stated. “That’s something I just cannot change. But I’ve focused on being a great martial artist all this time, and come fight night, I’m just going to show that I’m a great martial artist regardless of how many fights I have.” Andrade has comparatively far more fights, and much more experience, despite having been in the UFC for a similar amount of time. Suarez, a former wrestler, noted however that “I’ve competed all over the world in a different sport, so I have experience, even from a young age. I started competing internationally when I was like 15 years old, all over the world. So I’m not going to put too much value into that.”
Watch the full UFC Nashville media day appearance by Tatiana Suarez above.
