Tatiana Suarez thinks she has done enough to earn another opportunity at the UFC women’s strawweight title.
Suarez’s first title shot occurred back in Feb. 2025, and she fell short against Zhang Weili. In the first defeat of her pro MMA career, Suarez dropped a unanimous decision to Weili. The good news for Suarez is that she has since earned three straight victories, including her win over Virna Jandiroba this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 124.
Speaking to reporters during the post-fight press conference, the top-ranked 115-pounder said she views herself as a prime candidate to challenge Mackenzie Dern for the women’s strawweight gold next (via MMAJunkie).
“I’m No. 2 and (Jandiroba) No. 3. I don’t know who (could be next),” Suarez said. “I guess (Zhang) Weili, but we don’t know what’s going on with Weili and it’s just Mackenzie, so I’m just thinking, yeah, that would be a good fight. That’s the fight to make.”
Dern defeated Jandiroba to become the strawweight champion, and she followed that up with a successful title defense over Gillian Robertson. Suarez is happy with her performance against Jandiroba given that the savvy veteran had a competitive fight with Dern.
“She basically did everything I thought (she would),” Suarez said. “I think my team and I game-planned really well. I was disappointed for a second, but I’m also happy I’m going with two checks and some experience over a very good opponent. She makes a lot of the girls look bad. She had a very good fight with Mackenzie (Dern). It wasn’t a blowout by any means. It was very close fight.”
As Suarez mentioned, Weili would likely be the strongest option to challenge Dern, but she hasn’t competed since losing to Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight title fight back in Nov. 2025.
Do you think Tatiana Suarez is likely Mackenzie Dern’s next title challenger? Share your opinion in the comments below.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
