According to Tatiana Suarez, Carla Esparza will not be able to manage UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas on the ground.
Esparza (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) will face Namajunas (11-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) at UFC 274 in May in a rematch from their first fight in 2014, in which Esparza used her wrestling to submit Namajunas and become the first 115-pound champion.
Both fighters have progressed since then, but Suarez believes she won’t be able to handle Namajunas on the ground after sparring with her. Suarez landed nine takedowns against Esparza at UFC 228 in September 2018 and believed the former champion wouldn’t have the same success against Namajunas as she did in their first fight.
“I think that Rose is gonna win.” Suarez said in an interview with Helen Yee. “I just think that maybe Rose has better grappling now than she did when they first went against each other. I did face Carla and once again, nothing against Carla, but I don’t feel like she has maybe the strength. When I fought her, I didn’t feel like she was super strong or anything like that, and I’ve never fought Rose, so I can’t really compare the two.
“But I saw her grappling exchanges with Zhang Weili, and she seemed like she made improvements, and she actually beat her in the grappling exchanges. That’s how she ended up winning, right? So I think she’s improved a little bit in that area, and Carla has the technique, but I don’t think she necessarily has the strength and it looks to me that Rose has packed on some muscle since ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ days, and I’m sure Carla has too, but I just don’t see. So I think Rose will probably (win). It might look similar to the Joanna fight.”
“I just wanted to focus on fighting” – Tatiana Suarez aim summer return to flyweight.
Suarez (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) hadn’t fought since June 2019, when she defeated Nina Nunes. She was forced to withdraw from UFC 266 in September due to a neck ailment, followed by a knee issue that required surgery.
The 31-year-old undefeated wrestler hopes to return by the summer and plans to book another match at 125 pounds, a weight class she sees herself fighting soon.
“I’m thinking summer,” Suarez said. “I’m hoping maybe July, maybe ‘International Fight Week.’
I would like that. I’m just trying to test my knee out in like certain – I’ve been doing a lot of grappling lately, which is crazy because I injured it grappling so I thought that would probably be the most mentally draining thing for me in terms of like coming back and maybe a little bit weary, but I’ve been grappling almost every single day so I guess I’ve overcome that fear.
“I’m still a little bit reluctant in certain situations and hesitant, but I’m feeling really good, and the next step is maybe to do some sparring and see how it holds up during sparring and then once I feel 100 percent confident, I’ll ask to book a fight, and I’m hoping like July.
The reason I wanted to go flyweight for the next fight is because I had been out for a few years, and I just didn’t really want to focus on any type of weight cut. I just wanted to focus on fighting at that point.”
