How UFC Fighter Tatiana Suarez Channeled Her Strength To Make The Ultimate Comeback
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There is no doubt that Tatiana Suarez, who has a decade-long UFC career under her belt, is tenacious. And that tenacity is what keeps her fans coming back again and again to the octagon. The 33-year-old fighter has faced several setbacks over the years, which can be seen in the new HBO documentary The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez, on Max. But they haven't held her down for long.
The doc follows Suarez's UFC comeback following two major injuries. In 2011, Tatiana injured her neck in a wrestling competition, at which time doctors also discovered a cancerous growth on her thyroid. After cancer treatment, and once she was cancer-free, she pivoted to jujitsu and later MMA. Then, in 2021, Tatiana faced another setback after tearing her ACL, LCL, MCL, and meniscus during a training session, taking her out of the sport for nearly four years.
"I was three years old when I started wrestling, and my whole life, people told me I shouldn't," Tatiana tells Women's Health. "I would wrestle with their sons, and they'd be like, 'You're so cute. You should probably go do tennis.' And I'm like, 'I think tennis is great, but I'm wrestling, and I just beat your son. So maybe he should go do a different sport, not me.'"
As it turns out, not much has changed since then. While Tatiana is taking a brief break from competition to treat inflammation from a recent knee injury during training, she is still active in the UFC. She currently ranks at number two in the women's strawweight division (the lightest weight class for athletes at or under 115 pounds) with an 11-0 streak, six submissions, and two knockouts, according to her UFC profile.
Wondering how she stays on top of her game despite her physical setbacks? The fighter sat down with Women's Health to share all the details behind her return to the sport.
She had to really home in on her mental health.
After her neck injury and cancer treatment, Tatiana was left with an indefinite road to recovery. She had to take her recovery day by day. "I had to keep my diet a certain way, and I had to do certain exercises for my neck every day, and they were so tedious and boring," says Tatiana. "Not only that, but I couldn't do what I love, which is to go live and do my sport."
Two years later, Tatiana's knee injury also took a toll on her in ways that made her question if she should give up entirely. "At that point, I was like, 'I thought that patience was the lesson that I was supposed to be learning when I was going through my neck injury," says Tatiana. "And then I hurt my knee, and thought, 'Well, I don't get it. What more could I have done?'"
Looking back, Tatiana says that focusing on what she could control and letting go of what she couldn't helped her get through that time in her life. "It's always easier said than done," she says. "But it's a constant battle."
She made diet changes to help her body heal.
For many fighters, curating a healthy, nutritious meal plan is essential, regardless of which weight class they're in. As a strawweight fighter, Tatiana aimed to put on lean muscle while maintaining a weight that would make it easy to transition to 115 pounds (the strawweight division) when it was time to compete again.
"I ate a lot of high-protein foods and healthy fats like olive oil on salad, chicken, steak, eggs, and avocado," she says. "I also incorporated fish oil, creatine for when I spar, and Thorne's Curcumin Phytosome, which helps a lot with my inflammation."
Two things Suarez skips out on: processed food and sugar. She explains that while following her strict diet requires discipline, she grew up eating nutritious meals at home and at school thanks to her mother's guidance.
She focuses on training her weak areas.
Despite her injuries, Tatiana says she has no plans to change up her fighting style any time soon. Instead, she's focused on strengthening her weaker areas. "I'm a great wrestler, I know I'm great at jujitsu, I'm great at kicking," she says. "So right now, I've been focusing a lot on boxing because I know that it's probably my weakest thing. It's also given me a newfound respect for boxers."
Tatiana currently trains seven days a week, and her workouts consist of cardio and strength training three days a week, jujitsu, and physical therapy. "I can't wrestle yet. I drill it, but I can't bend my knee all the way," says Tatiana. "When I'm in [training] camp, there's not so much emphasis on cardio just because I do cardio throughout my workouts."
She leans on her support system for recovery advice.
As a lifelong athlete, Tatiana knows there's a fine line between the discomfort that comes with combat sports and over-exertion. "I journal to help me keep track of what I'm doing in a day," she explains. "I struggle with chronic back pain, so I have to monitor myself because any rotational stuff is going to bother my back."
She also relies on those closest to her to help advise her on the best recovery practices. "The UFC has multiple therapists that helped me understand when I should push myself and when I shouldn't," says Tatiana. She leans on her strength coach, who watches her train in order to make appropriate adjustments to her regimen, and her boyfriend, UFC fighter Patchy Mix, who also helps her determine which workouts might be most effective.
She has big goals for the future.
Unsurprisingly, getting back to competition was just the first step in Tatiana's long-term goals. Her first order of business? Become the strawweight champion.
"I want to defend my belt as many times as I can," she says. "And if the timing's right, I would like to go up to 125 (the flyweight division) and fight there too to become a double champ."
Some day, when her UFC career eventually comes to an end, she wants to give back to her community by opening her own gym. Tatiana previously taught wrestling to children at Millennia MMA in California, which she says was "the most rewarding thing." For Tatiana, having her own gym would help her give others the tools to develop their own confidence and strength.
"When I see a woman come in and they've never done a contact sport in their entire life, they learn jujitsu and feel so empowered—they feel strong," she says.
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