Credit: DaveMandel/Sherdog.com
Credit: DaveMandel/Sherdog.com
Credit: DaveMandel/Sherdog.com
Credit:Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
It appears that Tatiana
Suarez will have to wait a bit longer before making her Octagon
return. On Tuesday night, ESPN
reported that Suarez pulled out of her scheduled strawweight UFC
266 clash with Roxanne
Modafferi due to an injury. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is currently
looking for a replacement to keep Modafferi on the card. Shortly
after the news broke, Suarez herself took to her social media to
reveal that she needs to undergo surgery to heal her knee.
“Life really hits us hard sometimes,” she wrote. “I’d lie and
say I have it together but I don’t. It’s been tough to say the
least. I was really excited to fight again and I felt so ready and
up for the task. I still can’t believe this is my reality. It’s
heartbreaking to say the least. I was in this same position a
little over two years ago. I had to suck it up and focus on getting
healthy. I did just that and here I am in the very same spot. This
has to be one of the most challenging times of my life. But, as all
of you know my journey has been filled with challenges. Injuries,
Cancer more injuries. But, my journey has also been filled with
many victories. I’m going to focus on those victories to carry me
on. I have an amazing support system. My life is filled with people
who love me and believe in me and that is priceless. Thank you all
for your love and support. When I come back it will be better than
every sports comeback story out there. I truly believe that. I
believe I’m the best in the world. There is not a single doubt in
my mind. Only up from here.”
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 23 winner Suarez (8-0, 5-0 UFC) is
awaiting her in-competition return after an over two-year hiatus.
Her latest fight ended with the 30-year old upending Nina Nunes at
UFC 238 via unanimous decision. Before that, she stopped former
strawweight queen Carla
Esparza with punches at UFC 228.
Modafferi (25-18, 4-5 UFC) has recorded mixed results in her UFC
stint. In her latest appearances, she dropped a decision to
Lauren
Murphy at UFC on ESPN 11, then bounced back from the defeat by
outpointing Andrea Lee
at UFC Fight Night 177 before losing via decision to Viviane
Araujo at UFC on ESPN 20.
UFC 266 will go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The
card will see a double title headliner as Alexander
Volkanovski will put his featherweight championship on the line
against Brian
Ortega in the main event while Valentina
Shevchenko takes on Murphy for the flyweight belt in the
co-feature.