Tatiana Suarez has a timeline in mind for her return to the octagon.

Suarez, an undefeated strawweight contender and winner of Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” hasn’t seen action since June 2019 due to a lingering neck injury.

Prior to the layoff, Suarez  (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) was trending toward a title fight at 115 pounds after beating Nina Ansaroff, former champ Carla Esparza and Alexa Grasso.

UFC president Dana White recently revealed she’s on the comeback trail.

“She hit me up the other day,” White said on an ESPN+ fan QA with Laura Sanko. “Her neck is much better. She’s looking to come back soon. She’s scary.”

When contacted about White’s comments, Suarez confirmed her conversation with the UFC’s head honcho. However, she said her neck isn’t yet 100 percent, and it will likely stretch her break between fights into the range of two years before being completely ready.

“Yes, my team and I are thinking summer,” Suarez told MMA Junkie. “At first I thought spring, but I want to make sure my neck will make it through a camp before committing to a fight. I tried to spar and my neck hurt after a few rounds so I cut the session. But, slowly but surely I’m introducing live training back in.”

Suarez, 30, is No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie strawweight rankings, despite the time off between fights.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-news-tuf-winner-tatiana-suarez-return-neck-injury-summer

In a matchup between two undefeated prospects, Punahele Soriano isn’t putting any pressure on himself.

Soriano (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) faces Dusko Todorovic (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Jan. 16 at UFC Fight Night on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.

Someone’s zero on their unblemished record will have to go, but for Soriano, the performance is the only thing that matters.

“I never really put much emphasis into being undefeated,” Soriano told MMA Junkie Radio. “Of course it’s great, but I’ve lost so many times in my athletic career, wrestling in high school and wrestling in college. I lost probably 100 times maybe, I don’t know. But I can lose just as good as I can win. I’ll take it on the chin, but I’m here to win. I go out there to break guys, put the gas pedal on, and every fight I’m here to win.”

He continued, “I feel like I’m kind of in the middle. I don’t necessarily think ‘Oh, it’s gonna happen,’ and I don’t think ‘I gotta stay undefeated.’ I’m in the middle. I just focus on my training, make sure I’m the best fighter I’m gonna be for that date. I just feel that, as long as come fight day, I’m the man that day, nothing else matters.”

Since punching his ticket to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, Soriano picked up a first-round knockout of Oskar Piechota later that year in December. However, a few injuries put a brief halt on his momentum, sidelining him for all of 2020.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-news-punahele-soriano-not-focused-on-undefeated-record

By MMA Junkie Radio |

January 7, 2021 10:45 am

Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with hosts “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here and will be live on SportsCastr beginning at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

On Episode 3,120, the guys will be joined by guest Eric Nicksick, the co-winner of MMA Junkie’s 2020 Coach of the Year award. They’ll also discuss the latest MMA news and notes.

Breaking, video, MMA Junkie Radio, News, Radio

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/coach-of-year-winner-eric-nicksick-ufc-bellator-mma-junkie-radio-live-stream

You remember the name Darina Mazdyuk, right? It should at least job your memory, because if you’re a frequent visitor of MMA websites, there’s a good chance you saw the viral video of her beating a man back in November.

This wasn’t just any man, though. The inter-gender contest saw Mazdyukscore a first-round TKO victory against Grigory Christyakov, who tipped the scales at 529 pounds against Mazdyuk’s 139.

The freak show fight – for better or worse – caught the attention of many, including the Bellator brass. It didn’t take long fo the promotion to reach out to Mazdyuk with a contract offer, and she said she jumped at the opportunity and intends to thrive.

“Bellator contacted me about one to two weeks after the fight video came out – notably after comments of our fight from the likes of Mickey Rourke, Mark Goddard, and Mike O’Hearn,” Mazdyuk told BJPenn.com . “I will get even more attention when I start to conquer Bellator.”

Although her current notoriety stems from the viral bout, Mazdyuk assured skeptics that she is not a gimmick. She has an extensive background in martial arts, having trained in some variety of combat since she was 15. She’s got experience in sambo and karate, but MMA is now the main focus.

The optics of her viral bout tended to garner different impressions within the sport. Nevertheless, Mazdyuk got the attention she was seeking and managed to flip it into a spot on the Bellator roster. It’s a concept Mazdyuk had in mind for some time, she said, and was ultimately pleased to execute it.

“The idea to hold this fight came from me,” Mazdyuk said. “There was no quarrel with Grigory. There was an idea for a fight between a woman and a man. We had been looking for a long time for someone who would agree. The organizers found two fighters and from them I chose Grigory.”

Besides the viral mismatch win, which was an exhibition, Mazdyuk, 28, has compiled an official 3-1 professional record. Madzyuk has competed at openweight, lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight. She rides a two-fight winning streak and holds one TKO victory in three wins.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/darina-mazdyuk-big-plans-bellator-career-529-pound-man-viral-video

UFC Fight Island 7, the promotion’s return to Fight Island and its debut on ABC, continues to take hits to the fight card. Bethe Correia is out of her planned bout opposite Wu Yanan.

The line-up has already been battered with COVID-19 related casualties, but Correia is not out because of the pandemic induced disease. She is out because she needs to have her appendix removed, which requires surgery. The news was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Correia has blazed a rough trail during her UFC tenure, losing five of her last eight bouts. She fought one time earlier this year, losing a decision to Pannie Kianzad in July.

It was unclear at the time of publication if the UFC would be able to secure a replacement and keep Yunan on the fight card. Though there is still more than a week left until the fight, the UFC faces many more hurdles than normal because of the COVID-19 related testing and travel restrictions that fighters face getting to Abu Dhabi.

UFC Fight Island 7 is headlined by a featherweight battle between former champion Max Holloway and rising contender Calvin Kattar. It takes place on Jan. 16 and will be simulcast on ESPN+ and ABC, a first for the UFC.

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-fight-island-7-loses-another-bout-this-time-non-covid-related