Tatiana Suarez

Former world-class freestyle wrestler and TUF winner who challenged for the UFC strawweight title in 2025, currently ranked #2 in the division.

Tatiana Yadira Suarez Padilla was born on 19 December 1990 in Covina, California, and competed as a wrestler for USA Wrestling's World Team before transitioning to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a shift prompted in part by her recovery from thyroid cancer, which was successfully treated before she resumed training. Suarez won the strawweight tournament on the 23rd season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show in 2016, launching her UFC career, and developed into one of the most dominant wrestlers in the women's strawweight division, going undefeated across her early UFC run. Suarez has been repeatedly hampered by significant injuries throughout her career, including neck issues that led to extended periods away from competition, disrupting what many consider one of the most talented championship trajectories in the division. Suarez has continued competing at the top level of women's MMA, moving between strawweight and flyweight, and remains widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted wrestlers in the sport despite the injury setbacks that have limited her activity relative to her talent level.

Suarez was known for her elite wrestling background which she effectively translated into mixed martial arts. Her game plan typically involved controlling opponents with takedowns and maintaining dominant positions on the ground. She possessed excellent positional control and was able to systematically break down opponents with her grappling pressure and ground-and-pound.

Suarez is remembered as one of the most promising talents in women's MMA whose career was cut short by injury before reaching her full potential.

• The Ultimate Fighter 23 Strawweight Tournament winner 2016
• UFC Women's Strawweight title challenger 2025, loss to Zhang Weili