Tatiana Yadira Suarez Padilla was born as December 19, 1990, in Covina, California. Suarez is of Mexican ancestry.
Tatiana began wrestling before turning four because she begged her mother let her wrestle after seeing her elder brother compete. She completed her high school education at Northview before enrolling at Lindenwood University.
She has won a bronze medal twice in the freestyle wrestling world championships.
Suarez’s dreams of competing in the Olympics were dashed after she had a neck injury while preparing for the London Summer Olympics in 2012. In addition to a painful disc in her neck, an MRI and CAT scan also showed a malignant tumour on her thyroid. Suarez had her thyroid and multiple lymph nodes removed in addition to receiving radiation treatment.
Her thyroid cancer was successfully treated, and she ultimately started training again. Suarez first learned about Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and then took up mixed martial arts.
Suarez started training in MMA in 2013. In February 2014, she won her amateur debut by first-round TKO against Elizabeth Rodriguez.
In the Gladiator Challenge tournament in July 2014, Suarez made her professional MMA debut by decisively defeating Tyra Parker. When she made her comeback in April 2015, she won via first-round armbar submission over Carolina Alvarez.
In August 2015, she made her last appearance for the organization and defeated Arline Coban by second-round TKO. She won the Gladiator Challenge title in the California State Championship Series as a result of this win.
During the 23rd season of the TUF reality series, Suarez appeared as a participant. She won against Chel-c Bailey by a unanimous decision to enter the house. Coach Cláudia Gadelha made her the number one overall choice as a result of her outstanding performance.
She faced JJ Aldrich, a veteran of Invicta FC and Joanna Jdrzejczyk’s first selection in the quarterfinals. She advanced to the semifinals by defeating her in the second round via rear naked choke.
She competed against Kate Jackson of Team Claudia in her third bout. She used a guillotine choke to finish out Jackson in the first round so she could compete in the finale.
At TUF 23 Finale in July 2016, Suarez competed against Team Claudia teammate Amanda Cooper. She won in the first round via D’Arce choke to become the winner. Additionally, she received the Performance of the Night bonus for her victory.
In November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis, Suarez squared off against Viviane Pereira. She ended up winning the match via unanimous decision.
At UFC Fight Night 129 in May 2018, Suarez competed against Alexa Grasso. In round one, she used a rear-naked choke to win the bout.
In September 2018, Suarez competed against Carla Esparza at UFC 228. She ended up winning the match via technical knockout victory in the third round.
After a three-year hiatus, Tatiana Suarez made her comeback to compete against Montana De La Rosa at flyweight in February 2023 at UFC Fight Night 220. In round two, she submitted Suarez with a guillotine choke to win the match. She received the Performance of the Night bonus for her victory.
At UFC Fight Night 226 on August 5, 2023, Virna Jandiroba and Suarez were slated to square off. On June 20, it was revealed that Jandiroba had injured her knee and had to withdraw from the match. Suarez will now be competing against Jéssica Andrade.
Tatiana Suarez is currently ranked #10 in the UFC women’s strawweight rankings and #15 in the women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
