UFC star Tatiana Suarez has spoken of her disappointment at Rose Namajunas’s move up to flyweight, as it means she can’t fight the two-time strawweight champion just yet.
Earlier in June, it was reported that Namajunas would be shifting divisions from strawweight for her fight against Manon Fiorot in Paris in September. The move hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, but it’s looking very likely to happen.
Namajunas is commonly seen as one of the best women fighters in the world and has two championships to her name. Her move up to flyweight only underlines her prowess, but it means that Suarez – who’s looking to challenge herself against the best her sport has to offer – would have to move up to flyweight herself to be able to take Namajunas on.
“I’ve been wanting to fight her,” Suarez told The MMA Hour. “Because I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m back to 115 – maybe I could fight Rose,’ and it’s like, she’s going back to 125. I’m like, crazy.”
“I think she totally dodged me. No, I’m messing. Not at all. Whenever I say I want to fight her, it’s not because I want to go beat her up, or something like that, I don’t like her. I just think she’s such a good fighter. “
How good is Namajunas?
Namajunas is known for her creativity and forward movement while fighting. She keeps opponents on their toes throughout, always pressurizing them with high kicks and jabs, and has won praise for her footwork and advanced technical striking. She is a truly formidable opponent.
She began competing in MMA as an amateur back in 2010, clocking up a perfect run of four wins out of four before making the leap up to the Invicta Fighting Championship with a bout against Emily Kagan in January 2013.
Her rise was rapid. By the end of the year, she was competing in UFC’s long-running reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter, participating in season 20 and beating Alex Chambers in her first fight. She made it all the way to the final, but lost via rear-naked choke to Carla Esparza in the third round.
The sting of defeat was softened by earning bonus awards for Performance of the Season and Fight of the Season, for her quarter-final clash with Joanne Calderwood, which she won in the second round via kimura.
She’s been participating in UFC since October 2015, and was named strawweight champion for the first time at UFC 217 in 2017, where she beat Joanna Jędrzejczyk by KO in the first round. Her second title came at UFC 261 in April 2021, when she beat Zhang Weili by knockout.
Suarez, meanwhile, has a perfect record, with nine wins from her nine fights, two coming through knockout. She was absent from the sport for three-and-a-half years after her fight against Nina Ansaroff in June 2019, but made her return by beating Montana De La Rosa at Fight Night 220 in February this year.
Her next bout comes against Virna Jandiroba at Fight Night 226 in August.
Written and distributed by Chat T Sports.
