Tatiana Suarez is happy with comparisons to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Suarez opened up a lot of eyes when she submitted Alexa Grasso inside three minutes. The two shared the Octagon this past Saturday night (May 19). Suarez improved his professional mixed martial arts record to 6-0.
A top freestyle wrestler who missed out on the 2012 Summer Olympics due to an injury, Suarez has found her groove in MMA early on. She’s looked so impressive that fans are starting to view her as the strawweight version of UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov.
During the UFC Chile post-fight press conference, Suarez approved of the comparisons (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I love that comparison because I’m a huge fan of his. I really base a lot of my wrist-riding and stuff off of him. I do a lot of that in practice. And actually that’s what happened. I went for the wrist ride, and she turned her back to me, and I took her back off of it. So, yeah – thank you, Khabib, for that.”
In her six victories, Suarez has nabbed four finishes. Three of those finishes have come by way of submission. The other was via TKO. Suarez has beaten the likes of Amanda Cooper, Viviane Pereira, and now Grasso.
Suarez was the 12th ranked strawweight going into her bout with Grasso. Since Grasso was ranked number nine, it’s possible that Suarez will shoot up as high as three spots which would see her debut in the top 10.
Is Tatiana Suarez the future of the UFC’s strawweight division?
