Tatiana Suarez: Panic mode from Zhang title loss erased at UFC 327
Former women's strawweight title challenger Tatiana Suarez put herself in great position to have another shot at the belt.
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.