Nearly four years away didn’t slow down Tatiana Suarez from picking up right where she left off in her return at UFC Vegas 70.
Injuries kept the former Olympic hopeful sidelined since 2019 but Suarez looked as dominant as ever after snatching a nasty guillotine choke to tap out Montana De La Rosa. The end came at 2:51 in the second round after Suarez latched onto the choke with no plans of letting go until De La Rosa either tapped or went to sleep.
“I’m so happy,” Suarez said while fighting back tears after the win. “I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. It’s really hard when you can’t do what you love to do the most.
“For me, I just felt like I’m really happy that I can show anybody if they’re going through tough times to keep your head up cause it’s going to work out.”
It didn’t take long for Suarez to turn to her wrestling as she engaged in the clinch before dragging De La Rosa down to the mat just seconds into the opening round. From there, Suarez methodically started working her ground and pound game with De La Rosa trying to scramble back to her feet.
Suarez maintained control throughout, although De La Rosa didn’t make anything easy for her as the flyweights were battling for position.
Even in the moments when De La Rosa did a good job to avoid getting stuck against the cage, Suarez was still able to toss her to the ground to showcase her grappling dominance.
While De La Rosa eventually worked free again, this time Suarez saw an opening for a front headlock that quickly evolved into a guillotine choke. As soon as Suarez had the neck, she fell to her back, locked on her legs and just waited for the moment when De La Rosa couldn’t take anymore.
Despite a valiant effort to break free, De La Rosa eventually had to tap out as Suarez moved to 9-0 in her career with a perfect 6-0 campaign in the UFC. Following the win, Suarez confirmed plans to return to the strawweight division where she was arguably a win away from a title shot prior to the injuries that kept her out of action for over three years.