Tatiana Suarez, one of the best women's MMA fighters in the world, is finally close to returning to the Octagon.
Suarez told ESPN's Ariel Helwani in a video interview published Wednesday that she has been medically cleared by doctors and is targeting a return to the UFC in September, or perhaps even as early as August. Suarez has been sidelined by a recurring bulging disc in her neck since June 2019.
"I'm super excited to get back out there," she said. "It's fun to practice, for sure. But it's just different competing. Everybody knows that. It's super exciting to just show what you're working on."
Suarez (8-0) said she was cleared for live training in February, but then she broke her hand and suffered a concussion while wrestling in her front yard with her boyfriend. Those were minor setbacks, she said, but she has been back to training now for the past several weeks and plans on starting a training camp "soon."
When she comes back, Suarez said she plans to try her hand at a new division: flyweight. Suarez had dominated the UFC's women's strawweight division before the injury cropped up two years ago. But she said that cutting to 115 pounds left her feeling weak and tired on fight night and not as explosive as she is in training. Suarez said she'd like to see what it feels like to compete at 125 pounds, at least initially upon her return.
"Maybe if I'm not cutting too much weight at all, I'll be a little more stronger and explosive," Suarez said.
Suarez (8-0) has won all five of her UFC fights and was the Ultimate Fighter 23 winner in 2016. The California native came close to competing in the 2012 Olympics in wrestling, but the neck injury and a bout with thyroid cancer marred those plans. Suarez, 30, owns wins over former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza and current flyweight contender Alexa Grasso.
When asked how she thinks she could match up with women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, one of the top three women's fighters on the planet, Suarez said she believes very well.
"I do think I have a good skill set in terms of my wrestling [that] can give her trouble," Suarez said.