UFC strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez suffered a weird harm simply minutes into her combat with Zhang Weili at UFC 312.
Tatiana Suarez‘s first shot at UFC gold was badly compromised simply minutes into her strawweight title showdown with Zhang Weili.
Suarez, after profitable her first 10 skilled fights, made a rapid ascent to the strawweight title shot at UFC 312. Regardless of getting into the Octagon as a modest favourite, she struggled towards Weili’s tempo and strain and wasn’t in a position to do a lot together with her signature wrestling.
After Weili obtained off to a gradual begin in Spherical 1, she dominated nearly all of the exchanges over the ultimate 4 rounds. She defeated Suarez by unanimous decision handy the proficient contender her first profession setback within the cage.
Halfway by Spherical 2, Suarez minimize her proper leg open towards the fence, as captured on the UFC 312 broadcast in between rounds. The consequence was a nasty gash that Suarez needed to combat by towards the ladies’s UFC pound-for-pound queen.
Tatiana Suarez sliced her knee open throughout grappling change at UFC 312
Take a look at Suarez’s compromised leg under, as captured on the printed.
Suarez’s mid-fight injury is the latest in a slew of well being points she’s handled out and in of the cage throughout her profession. After beating most cancers and discovering early success in MMA, a number of accidents halted her exercise early on in her profession, together with a four-year hiatus from 2019-2023.
Suarez’s nasty leg gash may probably postpone her UFC return timeline after the loss to Weili. Earlier than the loss to Weili, Suarez fought simply twice in six years to earn the subsequent strawweight title shot.
Suarez was presupposed to face Virna Jandiroba in a No. 1 contender combat at UFC 310 earlier than struggling an harm simply weeks earlier than the scheduled bout. She secured the title shot by ending Jessica Andrade at UFC Nashville in Aug. 2023.
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Zhang Weili leaves UFC 312 in a clumsy spot regardless of spectacular title protection
In the meantime, Weili’s dominant efficiency eliminates one other high contender within the strawweight division’s title image. She holds wins towards 4 of the present Prime 5 strawweight contenders, together with in her earlier title protection towards Yan Xiaonan at UFC 300 final April.
Weili’s subsequent potential combat could be against Virna Jandiroba, who was presupposed to face Suarez in December. Jandiroba most lately defeated Amanda Lemos final July and is slated to face Xiaonan at UFC 314.
Weili has also hinted at a potential super fight with UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko on quite a few events in her profession. As of this writing, Shevchenko isn’t booked for her upcoming title protection after regaining the belt at UFC 306.
After dismantling Suarez at UFC 312, Weili has a number of intriguing choices for her subsequent combat, together with a possible pursuit of changing into a two-weight champion. The UFC’s pound-for-pound queen separated herself from the remainder of the pack after her newest dominant efficiency.
