Tatiana
Suarez’s first title opportunity in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship didn’t go as planned, but that
won’t stop her from moving forward with her mixed martial arts
career.
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Suarez suffered a surprisingly lopsided unanimous decision loss to
reigning strawweight champion Weili Zhang
in the UFC 312
co-main event this past Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney,
Australia. While Suarez’s wrestling acumen was expected to give
Zhang some difficulty, the Californian landed just one of 15
takedown attempts in the fight. After a promising opening stanza in
which Suarez was able to ground her foe and rack up valuable
control time, Zhang imposed her will over the course of the next 20
minutes.
Suarez addressed the defeat in a statement via Instagram on
Tuesday.
“‘Champions don’t show up to get everything they want; they show up
to give everything they have.’ And that’s what I’ll do every single
time. No matter what,” Suarez wrote. “I love it all. Win, lose or
draw, I’m right where I want to be. Doing what I love to do every
single day of my life. I have the best people around me that love
me for me. Living the dream! It’s all about the right mindset and
life has taught me time and time again. I’ve experienced it all
thrill, agony, happiness, heartbreak.
“That’s what life is all about. I’m blessed to have this life. And
I’ll share these experiences with my children and the future
generations to come. Thank you to my friends, family, teammates,
coaches and fiancé for being there every single time no matter
what. Love you guys! On to the next!”
Suarez, 34, was victorious in her first 10 professional bouts prior
to UFC 312. That run included seven triumphs in the Octagon, as she
earned notable wins over the likes of Jessica
Andrade, Carla
Esparza and Alexa
Grasso along the way. While the Californian has long been
tabbed as a future champion, injuries have derailed her progress,
including an absence of more than three years from 2019 to 2013 and
a layoff of approxiately 16 months between her victory against
Andrade and her title shot vs. Zhang.