Tatiana Suarez: Panic mode from Zhang title loss erased at UFC 327

Tatiana Suarez: Panic mode from Zhang title loss erased at UFC 327

MIAMI – Tatiana Suarez thinks her win over Loopy Godinez at UFC 327 could get her a title shot.

Suarez (12-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) forced Godinez (14-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) to tap to a rear-naked choke midway through the second round of their strawweight fight on the prelims at Kaseya Center in Miami.

Suarez won for the second straight time after a title shot loss to former champion Zhang Weili in early 2025, which was the first setback of her career. She also became the first to submit Godinez, which was icing on the cake.

But Suarez thinks it's time to put her into the conversation for another crack at the 115-pound belt, which now is held by Mackenzie Dern after Zhang vacated to move up to flyweight for a shot at Valentina Shevchenko's title. Zhang came up short this past November, and her next move could impact Suarez, naturally.

"I guess it just depends on Weili," Suarez said at her post-fight news conference. "I heard that she was going back down to 115, but I will gladly go fight Mackenzie for that belt. The UFC makes those decisions. I just go in there. They tell me a time, date and an opponent, and I just show up.

"… I think with a really good finish, that does put me in the talks."

It's been 10 years since Suarez won Season 23 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Three years after that, she beat Nina Nunes – and then didn't fight again for nearly four years due to injuries.

Once she was back, she needed just two years to get her title shot – the one that remains the only loss of her career. And naturally, she'd love to have another chance to fight Weili.

"Obviously I want to get the belt, regardless of who it is," Suarez told MMA Junkie. "But I do want to fight Weili again. I do think that it would be a different outcome. I know by the way (the first fight) looked, people don't think that. But I believe it 100 percent.

"I had such an amazing camp … I just went into panic mode, and I wasn't using my skills and my brain. That's very, very important when you're out there. You can be the best fighter, but if you're not mentally checked in, you can look like you're not the best fighter. I look forward to making those adjustments and becoming a world champion."

Check out Suarez's post-fight interview in the video above.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Tatiana Suarez: Panic mode from Zhang title loss erased at UFC 327