UFC strawweight Tatiana Suarez has withdrawn from her UFC 298 bout against Amanda Lemos due to injury.
Stepping in her place will be Mackenzie Dern.
First reported by the Orange County Register.
Suarez (10-0) has missed significant time due to injuries including a 3-year stint away from the sport. She fought twice in 2023 earning victories over Montana De La Rosa and Jessica Andrade.
Dern (13-4) fights for the first time in 2024 coming off a loss to Andrade at UFC 295 in November. Following a 4-fight win streak early in her UFC career she has gone 2-3 in her last 5 fights. She’ll look to improve her #8 ranking and jump back into the title picture against #4 Lemos.
Lemos (13-3-1) is coming off her first title challenge at UFC 292 where she lost to current champion Zhang Weili. She holds victories over Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Angela Hill to name a few. With the strawweight title on the line at UFC 300 Lemos will look to thread water for another show with a win over Dern.
UFC 298 takes place in Anaheim, CA and is headlined by the UFC featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Ilia Topuria.
The co-headliner is a middleweight battle between former champion Robert Whittaker and powerhouse Paulo Costa.
