Tatiana Yadira Suarez Padilla (born December 19, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She was the strawweight tournament winner in the 23rd season of The Ultimate Fighter

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

Background

Suarez has Mexican ancestry. She started wrestling before her fourth birthday, as her older brother wrestled and she insisted that her mother let her wrestle too. She graduated from Northview High School before attending Lindenwood University. She is a two-time bronze medalist in the world championships of freestyle wrestling. In 2011, she was ranked the number one freestyle wrestler in the US at . While training for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, Suarez suffered a neck injury, which derailed her Olympic aspirations. An MRI and

CAT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

not only revealed a bothersome disc in her neck, but a cancerous growth on her thyroid. Suarez underwent radiation therapy and had her thyroid and several

lymph node A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that inclu ...

s removed. After successful treatment, her thyroid cancer was gone and she eventually began to train again. Suarez started practicing

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, which led her to discovering mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Suarez began training MMA in 2013 and made her amateur debut in February 2014 defeating Elizabeth Rodriguez by TKO in the first round. She fought again only one month later and defeated Jessica Pryor by unanimous decision before deciding to turn pro. Suarez made her successful professional MMA debut in July 2014 in the Gladiator Challenge promotion defeating Tyra Parker by unanimous decision. She returned in April 2015 and submitted Carolina Alvarez by armbar in the first round. She made her final appearance for the promotion in August 2015 defeating Arline Coban by TKO in the second round. This victory earned her the Gladiator Challenge championship in the California State Championship Series.

''The Ultimate Fighter 23''

Suarez was chosen as a participant on the 23rd season of the reality show '' The Ultimate Fighter''. In her fight to get into the house she defeated Chel-c Bailey by unanimous decision. Her dominant performance caused her to be selected as the number one overall pick by coach Cláudia Gadelha. In the quarter-finals she faced Joanna Jędrzejczyk's number one pick and Invicta FC veteran JJ Aldrich. She submitted Aldrich in the second round by rear naked choke, advancing her to the semi-finals. In her third fight she faced Team Claudia teammate Kate Jackson. She submitted Jackson in the first round by guillotine choke and advanced to the live finale.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Suarez faced Team Claudia teammate Amanda Cooper in the finals on July 8, 2016 at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale. She won the fight by D'Arce choke in the first round to become the strawweight tournament winner. Suarez was expected to face

Juliana Lima Juliana de Lima Carneiro (born March 15, 1982) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and mixed martial artist. She has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Invicta Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts career Early caree ...

at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov on . However, Suarez pulled out of the fight on November 23 citing injury and was replaced by JJ Aldrich. Suarez faced Viviane Pereira on November 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Suarez faced Alexa Grasso on May 19, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 129. She won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round one. Suarez faced Carla Esparza on September 8, 2018 at UFC 228. She won the fight via TKO in the third round. Suarez faced Nina Ansaroff on June 8, 2019 at UFC 238. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Suarez was expected to return from an extended hiatus and face Roxanne Modafferi in a flyweight bout on September 25, 2021 at UFC 266. However, Suarez was pulled from the event due to injury, and she was replaced by Taila Santos.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship ** The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia Strawweight winner. ** Performance of the Night (one time) vs. Amanda Cooper * Gladiator Challenge ** Gladiator Challenge Flyweight Champion (one time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

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Wrestling record

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Maria Gurova Maria Aleksandrovna Gurova (russian: Мария Александровна Гурова; born 16 April 1989) is a Russian retired freestyle wrestler. She competed at the 55 kg division in the 2012 European Wrestling Championships and won the ...

, Fall , rowspan=5, September 9, 2010 , rowspan=5, 2010 World Championship , rowspan=5, Moscow , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 9–4 , Um Ji-eun , 1–0, 5-4 , - , Loss , style="text-align:center;", 8–4 , Saori Yoshida , 0–3, 0–7 , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 8–3 ,

Ana Maria Pavăl Ana Maria Pavăl (born July 10, 1983) is a Romanian freestyle wrestler, who is playing for the women's 53 kilograms category. Since 2005, Pavăl had won a total of five bronze medals at the European Wrestling Championships. She is a member of C ...

, 1–3, 3–3, 6–0 , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 7–3 , Zalina Sidakova , 2–0, 7–4 , - ! style=background:white colspan=8 , , - , Loss , style="text-align:center;", 6–3 , Alena Filipava , 2–5, 0–3 , rowspan=4, September 24, 2009 , rowspan=4, 2009 World Championships , rowspan=4,

Herning Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)Sona Ahmadli Sona Ahmadli (born October 5, 1988 in Baku) is a wrestler from Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinen ...

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Gudrun Høie Gudrun Anette Høie (born 13 July 1970) is a Norwegian sport wrestler from Kristiansund. She won a gold medal in the FILA Wrestling World Championships in 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1998, a silver medal in 1991, and bronze in 1999. She was European c ...

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, 5–4 , rowspan=6, October 11, 2008 , rowspan=6, 2008 World Championship , rowspan=6, Tokyo , - , Loss , style="text-align:center;", 3–1 ,

Tetyana Lazareva Tetyana Viktorivna Lazareva ( uk, Тетяна Вікторівна Лазарева; born 4 July 1981) is a Ukrainian female wrestler. She represented Ukraine at the 2012 Summer Olympics in women's freestyle 55 kg. She finished 5th after losing ...

, 2–5 , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 3–0 , Tatyana Grigorieva , 5–2 , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 2–0 , Rivera Velazquez , 8–1 , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 1–0 , Sofia Poumpouridou , 6–1

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Tatiana 1990 births Living people American female sport wrestlers American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Mixed martial artists from California American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent American female mixed martial artists Strawweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Covina, California World Wrestling Championships medalists American sportspeople of Mexican descent Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters 21st-century American women