In a battle of former strawweight title challengers looking for strong positioning in the contender scene, Tatiana Suarez’s wrestling outdid Virna Jandiroba’s jiu-jitsu, giving Suarez the win in the UFC Vegas 124 co-main event.
Suarez looked to strike first in the grappling, grabbing one of Jandiroba’s legs, but Jandiroba fought it with inside strikes and balance. Suarez was unable to complete that takedown, but she had Jandiroba against the fence throughout the round, providing plenty of pressure.
Suarez continued her pressure-filled attack during the second round, but she still struggled to get in a takedown. The fight found the ground, however, when Suarez stuffed a Jandiroba takedown attempt. Suarez hunted for the neck but was unable to find a choke. Jandiroba grabbed one of Suarez’s legs and nearly locked up a kneebar in the closing seconds, but the horn sounded to save Suarez.
After some clinch exchanging to start round three, the fight went to the ground, with Suarez on top but Jandiroba looking for another kneebar. Suarez avoided it and worked over Jandiroba on top, and she got to Suarez’s back briefly in a scramble.
The judges all scored the bout for Suarez, with two 30-27s and a 29-28.
Suarez has now won three straight since her unsuccessful challenge of then-strawweight champion Weili Zhang at UFC 312, the sole loss of Suarez’s career. She entered tonight’s fight off a submission win over Loopy Godinez at UFC 327.
