For Suarez (12-1) the opening round proved to be one of the few moments of adversity for against Godinez. Suarez admitted she had difficulty finding her timing early before eventually settling into her grappling rhythm.

“The first round I just didn’t see the shot, but then once we actually started wrestling, I took her down,” Suarez told reporters including Cageside Press at her post-fight scrum.

“I was on top for quite a while. Once I knew that I could take her down and hold her there, which I feel like I can do that to many people, everything was easier.”

“I knew that I’d make adjustments, and get her back. I actually told my coach, I said, I don’t know why, but I feel like she’s not good on the back and I think I can get her back and I think I can get her out of there,” she said.

“I felt this very strongly before my fight. No one’s put her there except for Virna (Jandiroba).”

“I guess it just depends on Weili. I heard that she was going back down to 115, but I will gladly go fight Mackenzie Dern for that belt,” she said.

“The UFC makes those decisions. I just go in there and when they tell me this is the time of the day, I show up.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Tatiana Suarez above.

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With both fighters coming off wins, the fight was a big one for the strawweight division, and it was Loopy drawing first blood. She landed a hard right hand, and drilled Suarez with follow-up strikes while the former title challenger was on her knees after being thrown down. While Tatiana escaped she was slammed down, though soon enough, it was Suarez getting in control in the grappling department, even though Godinez was able to hold her own.

Suarez then spent the rest of the round on top, and got back in control in round two. By ninety seconds in, she had the back, Loopy on top of her, hooks in. Suarez went looking for the rear-naked choke, getting under the neck with Godinez fighting the hands. For a time, Loopy was safe, but the choke got tighter, and soon enough, Godinez was forced to tap!

With the win, Suarez now has back-to-back victories after coming up short against Weili Zhang. Godinez sees her own two-fight win streak snapped meanwhile. The loss also saw her stopped for the first time in her MMA career.

Official Result: Tatiana Suarez def. Loopy Godinez by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 2:29

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Recent title challenger Tatiana Suarez (11-1) will meet Loopy Godinez (14-5) at the event, expected to take place on April 11, 2026 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

Cageside Press confirmed the booking following a report by Twitter/X personality Krazy Kev.

The bout will be the second for Suarez after she came up short against Weili Zhang last February at UFC 312. The loss marked the first of Suarez’s career; The Ultimate Fighter 23 winner then bounced back with a win over Amanda Lemos.

Mexican-Canadian Godinez is a former BTC and LFA champion at 115lbs, and has won two straight. She’s coming off what is almost certainly the biggest victory of her professional career, over former UFC strawweight champ Jessica Andrade.

Tatiana Suarez is ranked #2 at 115lbs in the UFC’s official rankings, while Lupita Godinez comes in at #6. The strawweight division has changed drastically since Suarez fought for gold a little under a year ago: Weili Zhang vacated her title in a failed bid to claim gold at flyweight, coming up short opposite Valentina Shevchenko. Mackenzie Dern now holds the title at 115lbs, defeating Virna Janidroba for the vacant strap.

UFC 327 has one other fight reported, a light heavyweight tilt between Johnny Walker and Dominick Reyes.

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“She’s a very tough opponent,” Suarez (10-1) told Cageside Press and other media outlets following the bout. “I’m just glad to go, after a loss, to go and get this win against a tough opponent. And not to mention in the top five. I really wanted to stay in the top of my weight class, because I want to fight all the people that some people don’t want to fight. I gladly signed my name on that line and came in here and got a victory.”

Despite finding herself relegated to the preliminary card in San Antonio, there was no disrespect over card placement on the part of Suarez.

“No absolutely not. The only thing that kind of sucked about it is that I had to wake up a lot earlier just to get a shake out, and get my hair done,” she noted.

Suarez was already ranked #2 in the women’s 115lb division coming into Saturday night. With Weili Zhang vacating her title to pursue flyweight gold, Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern have been booked to fight for the now-vacant strawweight scrap. Suarez’s big win at Noche UFC could put her in a position to fight the winner.

“I just wanted to get a win today, and whatever happens after this, I’m excited to go ahead and do that,” she said backstage, noting that she has no specific names in mind for her next fight. “I’m just gaining more experience.”

Suarez also addressed the stop-and-go nature of a career that has seen extended absences due to injury.

“Everybody knows I’ve had a career where I took a lot of time off,” Suarez stated. She’s seen the comments of fans talking about her time away, but focuses on what she can do. “When I’m healthy, I will be there any time. And I will show up, and I will give it everything I have, because that’s who I am, and that’s who my mom taught me to be.”

“I just want to fight all the top girls in the division, and continue to prove myself and gain more experience every single time, so that the next time I step in there for that belt, I’m ready and I’m prepared, and I go and become that world champion that I know I can be.”

Watch the full Noche UFC post-fight press conference with Tatiana Suarez above.

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The fight between the two top five 115lb’ers arrived in the shadow of Jandiroba vs. Dern 2, set to crown a new champion in the wake of Zhang Weili moving up to flyweight to pursue a second title against Valentina Shevchenko. The winner of Suarez vs. Lemos, with the right performance, had a chance to stake their claim to be next in line.

ROUND 1: The fight started in an open stance matchup and Suarez got her kicking game going early to push Lemos to the fence. Around a minute and 20 seconds in, Suarez shot her first takedown attempt, but the Brazilian stuffed it. With both fighters clinching along the fence, a low blow from Suarez put a momentary stop to the bout. The fight then rightfully resumed in open space. Tatiana used a caught a kick to shoot a takedown, but a strong whizzer from Lemos allowed her to get back to her feet. Suarez’s chain wrestling skills allowed her to eventually get Lemos down and end the round on top.

ROUND 2: Lemos came out in the second round and threw a couple hard kicks to Suarez’s lead leg. Feeling the pressure, Tatiana then blitzed forward to push her opponent back to the fence and force a clinch. The Mexican-American got the Brazilian down for a few second, but an improved Lemos found her way back to the her feet. Halfway through the round, Suarez finally took Lemos down in open space. Suarez used her top pressure to threaten a guillotine, but Lemos’ two-on-one prevented it. Despite getting back up, Lemos couldn’t keep Suarez off of her as the betting favourite kept burning time off the clock. With 10 seconds left in the round, Lemos jumped on a ninja choke attempt, but Suarez was wise to it and survived until the buzzer.

ROUND 3: Perhaps thinking she needed a finish, Lemos came out in the third round with increased aggresiveness. She fired a couple right hands and more leg kicks, but despite putting power in her shots, she understood the wrestling threat that was in front of her. Tatiana shot a takedown that Lemos sprawled on, but the chain wrestling eventually did lead to a successful Suarez takedown. After a reversal to get back up, Lemos then landed some solid elbows followed by clean right hands that wobbled Suarez. With Suarez retreating, Lemos then pressed on the gas pedal, but ran out of time.

It was unclear how the beating against Zhang Weili would affect Tatiana Suarez’s confidence. She did get back in the win column, but this was an unconvincing victory for her. Time will tell if the promotion will think this was enough to have her fight the winner of the upcoming vacant title fight.

Official Result: Tatiana Suarez def. Amanda Lemos by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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Originally scheduled for Guadalajara, Mexico then shifted to San Antonio due to construction delays at the planned venue, Noche UFC has lost a bit of its shine (and its status as a PPV event), but there are still a number of high-profile match-ups adorning the Fight Night card. Among them, Suarez faces fellow ex-title challenger Amanda Lemos, with Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern for the vacant 115lb title looming.

When it comes to an opponent, Suarez (10-1) cared less about a name, and more about a number next to it. “I just wanted to fight whoever was in the top. Like Yan [Xiaonan], her [Lemos], I don’t even know. Virna obviously, but obviously they made the other match-up. But at the time, that’s what I was thinking. Somebody higher in the rankings so that I could work my way back to a title shot.”

Lemos is ranked #4 to Suarez’s own #2 position in the weight class, which is wide open as Weili Zhang makes the move to flyweight to pursue greatness there, and a title fight with Valentina Shevchenko.

Scheduled to face Lemos once before (the bout never happened), Suarez noted that there’s been minimal change in her preparation this time around.

“I think the only difference is that I learned to get even more comfortable on the feet, which will be a great advantage in the fight.”

Since her last fight, against Zhang, Suarez feels she’s grown as a competitor. It’s a “you win or you learn” sort of situation.

“I think every time you step in there, it’s a chance to learn, just like life. Things that happen in your life that are great, and then there’s things that happen in your life that are shitty, and you learn from both,” she stated. “You always try to look at how you can become better. So for me, I definitely learned a lot of things. I grew as a fighter, more experience, and I’m just going to take that with me on Saturday.”

Watch the full Noche UFC media day appearance by Tatiana Suarez above.

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Strickland came up short yet again against the South African, although this time the fight was not nearly as close. In the co-main event, UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang defended her title against the formerly undefeated Tatiana Suarez. The card boasted 12 total bouts with five on the main card. On the second fight on the main card, Jimmy Crute vs. Rodolfo Bellato ended in a majority draw after Bellato clawed his way back into the fight. A couple of thwarted title challengers need reasonable next steps as well as a couple of fighters on ‘hot’ seats.

Sean Strickland

Sean Strickland lost a clear-cut unanimous decision in his rematch against Dricus Du Plessis for the UFC’s middleweight strap. Strickland narrowly avoided the stoppage but had his nose badly broken in the bout. Sean has now lost two of his last five fights- both against ‘Stillknocks.’ Strickland entered the bout on Saturday as the #1 ranked middleweight.

With #3 Khamzat Chimaev likely being next in line for the title and Strickland having fought the majority of the top guys in the weight class, one name stands out. Strickland should fight Robert Whittaker in his next fight. Both are former middleweight champions and have lost two of their last five bouts. They share common opponents in Dricus Du Plessis, Israel Adesanya, Paulo Costa and Jared Cannonier. Both men were also welterweights that moved up to middleweight while under the UFC banner. Two very different types of strikers-and personalities, I could see this being a fight night headliner late in 2025. Winner would keep themselves within the elites of the middleweight division with loser likely falling deep into the latter half of the rankings.

Strickland’s next fight: Robert Whittaker  

Tatiana Suarez

Tatiana Suarez had a good first round but was absolutely shut out in the remainder of her five-round title bout, losing a lopsided unanimous decision to the strawweight champion, Weili Zhang.

The loss on Saturday was the first of Tatiana’s 11-fight pro MMA career. The Ultimate Fighter Season 23 winner has struggled through a plethora of debilitating injuries. As a result, Suarez has had just three fights since mid 2019(with four cancelled bouts in the same time period). Despite these facts, Suarez entered the fight ranked #1 in the UFC’s strawweight division.

Leading into her title shot, Tatiana’s most recent win was a second-round submission against Jessica Andrade in August of 2023. A few months earlier, in February, she submitted Montana De La Rosa, also in the second round.

Suarez has been matched up to fight Virna Jandiroba multiple times in the past couple of years but injuries for both fighters cancelled both matchups. Jandiroba is scheduled to fight Yan Xiaonan on UFC 314 in April. The loser of that fight would make sense but only if Suarez is okay to wait. If not, #6 ranked Mackenzie Dern would be a good opponent. Dern has won her last two fights including her most recent fight, finishing Amanda Ribas in the third round of their bout in January.  Grappler vs grappler but a wrestling base versus a jiu-jitsu base, it could be a very interesting fight for fans. The winner of this fight would likely be on the short list for a title shot, potentially needing one more win to make it a reality.

Suarez’s next fight: Mackenzie Dern or loser of Virna Jandiroba vs Yan Xiaonan 

Justin Tafa

Justin Tafa was quickly crushed by UFC newcomer and 2024 Contender Series product, Tallison Teixeira at UFC 312. A well-placed elbow spelled the end of a very short night for Tafa. The disappointing outcome was Tafa’s second loss in a row, and he now is 4-5, 1 NC in the UFC.

Tafa is on the hot seat to put it mildly. If not for his brother and the shallow depth of the UFC’s heavyweight roster, Tafa might already have been cut.  Tafa should revisit the bout that he fell out of last year against Marcos Rogerio de Lima. Marcos ended up fighting Justin’s brother Junior Tafa and finishing him in the second round. That fight should be rebooked giving Justin the opportunity to avenge his brother. If that fight can’t materialize then Tafa should revisit a cancelled fight with Kennedy Nzechukwu. Kennedy is supposed to fight Martin Buday in April. The loser of that fight would be perfect matchup for Tafa as well.

Tafa’s next fight: Marcos Rogerio de Lima or Loser of Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Martin Buday. 

Francisco Prado

Francisco Prado was out-struck at UFC 312 on the way to unanimous decision loss to Jake Matthews. Prado, who made his UFC debut in February of 2023 against Jamie Mullarkey, is now 1-3 with the promotion.

Kevin Jousset would be a good next opponent for Prado. Jousset fought on the undercard on Saturday losing to UFC newcomer and 2024 Contender Series product Jonathan Miacallef. Jousset is now 2-2 with the UFC and has lost two straight. Neither guy is afraid to stand and strike even if they are overmatched. Good level of competition for both men and the loser could potentially risk being cut (if it doesn’t happen before that).

Prado’s next fight: Kevin Jousset

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That ‘history’ just happens to involved a second belt currently held by flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

“Everything is about timing so if there’s a good time for both of us to make this fight happen, it happens,” Weili told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator at her post-fight scrum.

“To be honest I don’t really care about like who is pound-for-pound number 1, number 2, it doesn’t really matter. What I care about is how can I just make myself better.”

Weili (26-3) tied former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk for most title defenses at 115-pounds. The current champ stopped well short of calling herself the greatest strawweight of all time.

“Joanna is still the legend. When I started my MMA career I looked up (to) Joanna. I couldn’t imagine one day I could fight against her. Before this fight I text Joanna ‘Hey I’m going to fight in Sydney. Please come to watch.’ And today I saw her,” she said.

“I’m really happy.”

Everything may be about timing, but UFC CEO Dana White told the press that Weili’s team was waiting for him outside of his post-fight scrum. Weili played that down.

“Let’s talk with Dana later,” she said.

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Weili Zhang above.

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Zhang was on her second stint as the UFC’s 115lb champ, with the only losses of her career coming to “Thug” Rose Namajunas, and early on, future ONE Championship fighter Meng Bo. Suarez, meanwhile, was a perfect 10-0, but had fought sporadically due to injury since her TUF 23 win back in 2016.

Without question, there were doubts about Suarez coming in, especially given she hadn’t fought since 2023. The American had the clear edge in size, however, and when they came together less than a minute in and clinched up at center, Suarez was able to drag the champ down. That put Suarez in side control, though she’d end up back in half-guard after a moment. Still, on top, with ample time to work, and nowhere near the fence. And Suarez took full advantage. While she wasn’t able to do much damage, she was able to maintain the position, working her way back to side control slowly and methodically. Zhang would finally scramble to her feet with just over a minute to go, but Suarez had her neck, and jumped into a guillotine.

Zhang, however, was not in any danger, and fought off both that, and a subsequent guillotine choke attempt, finishing the round on top.

Opening the second, Suarez came out sporting some damage to one eye, though it was unclear what had actually caused it. 40 seconds in, Suarez shot in for the takedown, blasting into a double-leg, and locking her hands. Suarez stayed on it, landed it, but Zhang reversed and got right on top! Suarez trapped a leg to defend, preventing Zhang from moving to mount. Still, the challenger was in a bad spot, and her knee was busted open and bleeding, some nasty mat burn (later proving to be a cut from the fence). Zhang, meanwhile, was able to unleash some nasty punches before Suarez powered up, and once up, Suarez had to defend a guillotine.

From there, the pair traded knees in the clinch before moving back to center. Zhang connected with a big 1-2, the right hand landing clean. Suarez, meanwhile, had spent a lot of energy early, and went in on another takedown attempt, closing a lot of distance. She managed to get a body lock, but Zhang fought her off, leading to Suarez falling to her back, Zhang on top. Zhang would be smothering on top and end the round there.

The third frame saw Suarez open with a leg kick; Zhang walked her down, her standup now a much bigger threat with Suarez tiring. A right hand connected flush for Zhang, stopping Suarez in her tracks but not dropping her! She immediately shot in on a takedown, but didn’t have it. Another weak attempt followed, with Suarez getting to her knees then standing back up, going in on another takedown. That didn’t land either; instead, Suarez hit a knee to the body, but Zhang fired back a more effective punch over the top off the break.

Suarez’s takedowns were now beginning to reek of desperation. Too far out, not enough behind them. Zhang’s boxing and footwork were looking crisp in comparison, and she was starting to load up on her punches. In a clinch, the champ connected with an elbow. Suarez had almost certainly won the opening round, but it had been all Zhang since.

Heading into the championship rounds, body language was telling. Zhang was quickly to her feet to answer the bell; Suarez was slouched over on her stool and came out slowly. Zhang started in similar fashion to how she ended the third, connecting clean. She then landed an inside trip for a key takedown, and suddenly, the champ was in half-guard, threatening to pass. Tatiana Suarez, meanwhile, was left playing defense in a round she desperately needed to win.

Zhang would lock in an arm-triangle choke near the midway mark of the round, but couldn’t step over, and eventually lost the submission. Still, Suarez was in a bad spot, nowhere near getting to her feet, and offering nothing off her back. She finished the round there, and went back to her corner where he team tried to fire her up for a final five minute push.

Weili Zhang needed no such motivation. She was already fired up, raising her arms, getting the crowd cheering. Suarez, meanwhile, seemed concerned with the gash on her knee, which had apparently come from the fence, and was rather nasty.

Zhang connected with an elbow to start round five, then fought off a Suarez takedown, hopping on one leg and showing impressive balance. Suarez would return to that well again and again, but it appeared the well had run dry. When they did go down, it was Zhang in dominant position, threatening with a choke. Suarez survived that, but Zhang nearly had a rear-naked choke in place again moments later. And that allowed her to transition to top position, in half-guard threatening to pass. Suarez, on her back, blood framing her face, was spent. The only question, with 90 seconds left, was whether Weili Zhang would find a finish.

As it turned out, they would go the distance, with Weili Zhang retaining her women’s strawweight championship, ending any talk of an “uncrowned Queen.”

Official Result: Weili Zhang def. Tatiana Suarez by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)

The post UFC 312: Weili Zhang Retains, Dominates Tatiana Suarez appeared first on Cageside Press.

After a grudge match a year ago, “Stillknocks” and Strickland were once again booked with the middleweight title on the line, this time with Du Plessis holding gold. The fight, rather than in Canada as it was in 2024, came in Sydney, Australia, scene of Sean Strickland’s biggest win to date – his dethroning of Israel Adesanya in 2023.

A win for Strickland, and the UFC might have a trilogy fight on its hands, though with Khamzat Chimaev waiting in the wings, it likely would not be of the immediate variety.

In the UFC 312 co-main event, Tatiana Suarez, after years of injury setbacks, was finally getting her chance to claim strawweight gold. While some in the media and among MMA fans had taken to calling the TUF 23 winner the “uncrowned” champ at 115lbs, the reality was that Weili Zhang would be a formidable challenge for the wrestler. Zhang had already defeated the likes of Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade, and Carla Esparza, all three champions themselves.

Following UFC 312 at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, tune in for the post-fight press conference to stay on top of all the latest news. A live stream is available above.

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