Suarez believes she would beat Namajunas at any weight class.
If she is successful in her return, Tatiana Suarez wants a former champion next.
For her first UFC fight in nearly four years, Suarez returns against Montana De La Rosa at UFC Vegas 70, the upcoming Fight Night event scheduled for Feb. 25 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The Ultimate Fighter winner is moving up from strawweight to flyweight for this one, but she expects the move to be temporary.
“I’ll probably just ask for another fight at 115 after this fight,” said Suarez in an interview with The Schmo. “Like, I know I will because I’ll probably be lower in weight since I just got done fighting. I’m not that big, so I’m not going to be cutting a lot of weight for 125 and it’ll be easy to stay down and be smaller. I’ll go through this fight camp, so I’ll get leaner, which will be good. And then I’ll ask for a fight at 115, hopefully around July.”
When it comes to her options, Suarez sees Rose Namajunas as one of them. ’Thug’ Rose has not fought since losing the UFC strawweight championship to Carla Esparza at UFC 274 this past May. Since then, she has hinted at a change in weight class.
Should Namajunas also move up to flyweight, Suarez would stay around for a potential fight.
“I think I heard that Rose is maybe going up? I heard that, right? I wouldn’t mind making that my next fight at 125, if I’m being honest,” said Suarez. “I would love that fight at any weight class because I do believe I could beat her. I believe that 100 percent. I think that I could beat her. I think that my grappling is just so superior to her grappling, and I think I’d make it a nightmare for her in either weight class. I’d be strong at 125 or 115.”
Suarez is 5-0 in the UFC, with wins over Alexa Grasso, Carla Esparza and Nina Nunes among her highlights.