LAS VEGAS – UFC president [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] couldn’t have been much more impressed with the “incredibly talented” [autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] in her return to the octagon at UFC Fight Night 220.
After nearly four years away from competition due to injuries and other setbacks, undefeated wrestling standout Suarez (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) finally made her comeback on Saturday and defeated Montana De La Rosa (12-8-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) by second-round submission at the UFC Apex. It was a largely dominant performance, and showed she hasn’t lost much of an edge in terms of skill since her previous fight in June 2019.
White said it’s a “big deal” for Suarez to perform in the manner she did, especially against a durable foe like De La Rosa, who had never previously been finished in her UFC career.
“She looked incredible, especially with the time off,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the UFC Fight Night 220 post-fight news conference. “Everybody knows how I feel about that much time off. Plus the things that she battled personally, physically. And De La Rosa is badass. That’s a legit comeback fight.”
If she can keep healthy and active, Suarez seems destined for a championship path. Her two wins prior to the layoff came over Nina Nunes and former two-time titleholder Carla Esparza, the latter of which was very one-sided. Suarez returned at women’s flyweight to avoid a serious weight cut in her first fight back, but intends to move back down to strawweight and chase gold.
White isn’t sure exactly how he’ll book Suarez next, but hinted that she’s got at least one more fight ahead before any title shot consideration.
“We’ll see where she ends up in the rankings and get a couple more fights under he belt and see what happens,” White said. “There’s no doubt she’s one of the best in the world. There was a lot of talk on the internet and a lot of hype about her coming back tonight. A lot of people were excited to see her. See how she was going to handle adversity again, and she came out looking awesome.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 220.