The UFC has finalized a massive strawweight fight that’ll determine the next strawweight title challenger. AG Fight was the first to report that in December, undefeated number one strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez (10-0) will take on the surging third ranked contender Virna Jandiroba (21-3).
The fight will go down at UFC 310 on December 7th in Las Vegas. This fight was actually supposed to take place in August 2023, but Jandiroba suffered a knee injury that made her pull out of the fight. In her place, Suarez took on former champ Jessica Andrade.
It has been a tough stretch for Tatiana Suarez. The undefeated top contender won The Ultimate Fighter back in 2016 then she won her first four UFC fights including wins over former strawweight champ Carla Esparza and former flyweight champion Alexa Grasso.
However, she was then hit with a major injury bug. Tough injuries kept her out from June 2019 all the way until February 2023. At times, Suarez wasn’t even sure she’d fight again. However, she battled back and returned successfully last year. She returned with two wins by finish capped off by her destruction of Jessica Andrade.
She was supposed to face Amanda Lemos back in February, but she had to pull out of that fight. Now, she’s healthy and she’s ready to earn her UFC title shot.
UFC 310
Virna Jandiroba made her octagon debut back in 2019 when she was 14-0 and she entered as the Invicta strawweight champ. She lost her first fight against former champ Carla Esparza. Jandiroba got off to a bit of a rocky start going just 3-3 in her first six fights.
In May 2022, she got a very impressive win over Angela Hill and that kicked off her current run. Following the Hill win was a dominant grappling win over Marina Rodriguez. Then she defeated Loopy Godinez back in March and that led her to a fight with former UFC title challenger Amanda Lemos back in July.
Jandiroba submitted Lemos in the second round and now she’s a win away from earning a title shot. To earn that shot she’ll have to face someone who everyone believes is destined to be a champion. It should be a helluva fight in December.