Tatiana Suarez still sidelined with neck injury, says Dana White

UFC president Dana White provided a health update on women’s strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez following Saturday night’s UFC 248.

Suarez is considered by many to be the best prospect in the women’s 115lbs division and there are many fans and media who believe she deserves a title shot. After all, Suarez is unbeaten with an 8-0 record in her MMA career including a 5-0 mark in the UFC. In her last fight in June 2019, Suarez defeated Nina Ansaroff and is currently ranked at No. 3 in the division.

The problem with Suarez is that she has been dealing with a neck injury for some time and hasn’t been able to fight in almost a year now. Speaking to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter following UFC 248, White gave a health update on Suarez, saying she won’t be able to return to the Octagon anytime soon due to her next injury.

Dana White provided an update on the health status of Tatiana Suarez: “She’s not good. She’s not ready to go yet. Tatiana’s working on something, it’s her neck she’s having problems with, she’s trying to get that straight.”

This news means that Suarez likely won’t be getting the next title shot against UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang, who defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk in an all-out war at UFC 248. Instead, with Suarez on the shelf, it seems likely that the winner of the UFC 249 co-main event between former champs Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas will get the next shot at the belt.

For Suarez, at this point, she just needs to get healthy and get back into the Octagon. Even with the time off, Suarez would likely still be very competitive in a title fight against Zhang due to her elite wrestling skill. However, given the time off, a tune-up fight seems like the most likely outcome for Suarez upon her return to the cage given how much time she’s missed.

Do you think Tatiana Suarez should get a title shot when she returns to the Octagon?