Where would life be without a story? However, the life of Tatiana Suarez (33, USA), a female UFC fighter, is also very complicated.
Suarez, who has a record of 8 wins in mixed martial arts, will compete in a women’s flyweight division (under 56.7kg) at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, USA on the 26th (hereinafter Korean time). Her opponent is Montana de la Los (28, USA), who has a career record of 12 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw in 20 matches.
I had an online video interview with Suarez ahead of the game. She knew Suarez’s story beforehand. She wanted to hear directly from him. Appearing on the monitor screen with her bright smile, Suarez looked happy for her. She was full of excitement. She also showed a slight excitement. she deserves it Because this is her comeback after 4 years.
Her life was not long, but she had many ups and downs. Suarez, who started her wrestling career at the age of three, was an up-and-coming female wrestling prospect. She was No. 1 in the national rankings in the 2011 women’s wrestling freestyle 55 kg class. At the 2008 and 2010 World Championships, she won two bronze medals. Ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London, she was highly anticipated for her gold medal as a potential gold medalist.
The first ordeal came to Suarez, who went out so well. Thyroid cancer was discovered during a checkup at the hospital due to a neck injury sustained during training. Fortunately, it was discovered early and life-threatening. However, he had to undergo chemotherapy for 18 months in isolation. The Olympic dream has become a futile futility.
The treatment process was long and lonely. Most of all, he was frustrated with the disappearance of his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal, which was his entire life goal. He couldn’t wrestle anymore. Instead, he set a new goal. It was the mixed martial arts UFC.
Suarez started Jiu-Jitsu after being diagnosed with cancer. His overwhelming wrestling skills remained the same. Based on his wrestling, his jiu-jitsu stage was also leveled스포츠토토. He won two consecutive gold medals at the 2013 and 2015 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.
He conquered jiu-jitsu following wrestling, and there was nothing rough about him. After debuting in MMA in 2015, he participated in the UFC reality show ‘TUF (The Ultimate Fighter)’ in 2016 and won the championship. After that, he went on a winning streak. Since his UFC debut, he has won 5 fights. He quickly established himself as a champion candidate. At least, that was until another ordeal came along.
Destiny did not leave Suarez alone. A chronic neck injury recurred just before his championship challenge. His neck injury has been a lifelong enemy that has plagued him since his days as a wrestler. To make matters worse, he even suffered a fatal knee injury. He had to learn how to walk and run again.
Four years passed like that. Any other player would have given up his career as a player. But Suarez did not back down. He endured 4 years of tedious treatment and rehabilitation. And he returned to the octagon he had longed for.
When asked how he felt about returning after 4 years, Suarez smiled brightly. He seemed to be in a good mood just thinking about it. “I’m ready to go out and fight right now,” he said. “I feel really good and excited. Finally I’m back,” he said.
He wondered how he got through the hard times. Suarez was slightly speechless. Then he slowly opened his mouth.
“I had a knee injury and wanted to give up for two days. never could have done that I really wanted to do this. Martial arts is what I love the most. I wake up every morning excited at the thought of going to training. I am now doing what I have to do. This is something I am passionate about.”
I asked what was the charm that made it impossible to give up martial arts. Suirez couldn’t help but smile whenever he talked about martial arts.
“It motivates me every day just by thinking about improving myself. That’s my personality, and as a fighter, that’s who I am. The charm of martial arts is that there is always an element to develop further. All opponents are different. It’s kind of like a playground. There are always riddles to solve.”
I am full of motivation as I have patiently waited for 4 years. The dream of becoming a champion has also been revived. There is still a long way to go, but Suarez feels like he can do anything.
“I want to be the best fighter and fight all the best fighters who have ever held titles. I want to play against all the fighters who have achieved great things in women’s martial arts. It is a great honor to share the cage with athletes who have made great achievements in sports. I have excellent grappling skills. I want to test my skills against the best players.”
After saying, “I want to be the best fighter and the nicest person possible,” Suarez lowered his head slightly shyly and also expressed his desire to play at both flyweight and strawweight in the future.
“I wanted to focus only on the match without worrying about losing weight ahead of the comeback. I wanted to go through the camp in a healthy state, so I raised my weight to flyweight. If I do well in this fight, I will mentally prepare myself for the weight loss and then go back to strawweight. As much as I went through a tough process, I am ready to test myself in any situation.”