Tatiana Suarez Addresses Loss to Weili Zhang in UFC 312 Co-Headliner

Tatiana Suarez’s first title opportunity in the Ultimate Fighting Championship didn’t go as planned, but that won’t stop her from moving forward with her mixed martial arts career.

Suarez suffered a surprisingly lopsided unanimous decision loss to reigning strawweight champion Weili Zhang in the UFC 312 co-main event this past Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia. While Suarez’s wrestling acumen was expected to give Zhang some difficulty, the Californian landed just one of 15 takedown attempts in the fight. After a promising opening stanza in which Suarez was able to ground her foe and rack up valuable control time, Zhang imposed her will over the course of the next 20 minutes.

Suarez addressed the defeat in a statement via Instagram on Tuesday.

“‘Champions don’t show up to get everything they want; they show up to give everything they have.’ And that’s what I’ll do every single time. No matter what,” Suarez wrote. “I love it all. Win, lose or draw, I’m right where I want to be. Doing what I love to do every single day of my life. I have the best people around me that love me for me. Living the dream! It’s all about the right mindset and life has taught me time and time again. I’ve experienced it all thrill, agony, happiness, heartbreak.

“That’s what life is all about. I’m blessed to have this life. And I’ll share these experiences with my children and the future generations to come. Thank you to my friends, family, teammates, coaches and fiancé for being there every single time no matter what. Love you guys! On to the next!”

Suarez, 34, was victorious in her first 10 professional bouts prior to UFC 312. That run included seven triumphs in the Octagon, as she earned notable wins over the likes of Jessica Andrade, Carla Esparza and Alexa Grasso along the way. While the Californian has long been tabbed as a future champion, injuries have derailed her progress, including an absence of more than three years from 2019 to 2013 and a layoff of approxiately 16 months between her victory against Andrade and her title shot vs. Zhang.

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