Tatiana Suarez continued her march toward title contention on Saturday night at UFC 327, delivering a dominant performance against Loopy Godinez that reaffirmed her status as one of the most dangerous grapplers in the division.
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.”
Despite the early challenges, Suarez remained confident in her ability to make the necessary adjustments. That belief, she revealed, stemmed from a specific read she had on Godinez’s tendencies heading into the fight.
“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).”
Suarez now finds herself firmly in the title conversation, though the path forward remains uncertain. With former strawweight champion Weili Zhang possibly returning to strawweight to challenge Mackenzie Dern for the title, Suarez made it clear she’s ready for whatever opportunity comes next.
“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.