Undefeated women’s strawweight UFC star Tatiana Suarez has had her share of slumps and hurdles that she overcame to be #1 Strawweight and #10 P4P in the promotion. Tatiana Yadira Suarez Padilla is an American MMA star but her identity is more than that. With her older brother in the wrestling realm, she too got attracted to the combat sports world but being the best fighter was not her only goal.

She aimed to uphold her legacy and represent her roots in this organization. However, there were many hurdles especially related to severe health issues but nothing could deter her from her path. Here is everything you need to know about Suarez’s ethnicity and family.

Is Tatiana Suarez Mexican?

Tatiana Suarez was born on December 19th, 1990, and hails from Mexico. She was already wrestling by the time she turned 4 and was inspired by her older brother Chris. Suarez graduated from Northview High School before attending Lindenwood University. She started her MMA journey by competing under her stepfather’s surname Padilla. She might be staying in California now but never fails to acknowledge her love for her Hispanic heritage.

She showed the toughness of Mexicans through her grit and wrestling prowess by becoming one of the country’s top wrestlers. With each walk she made to a cage, Suarez made it into a winning stride. With 11-0 in her resume, she is unbeaten in her professional career. And guess what? She was a dog trainer before being this amazing MMA fighter.

She did have her own set of hardships taking the form of severe physical ailment because the Mexican star was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2012 while preparing for the Summer Olympics. She had to stop her training so she could receive radiation treatment. Suarez started training in jiu-jitsu once she recovered, and this helped her transform from a fighter to a mixed martial artist.

She not only survived in the MMA world but did that after staring cancer in the face at just 21! The disease took away her Olympic dreams. But this was not the end because even though her career took off after recovery, she faced another injury at UFC 238 while squaring off against Nina Nunes. Wait! There were more hurdles, because then came the knee injury that kept her out of the cage till 2023. But she is from the strong lineage of Hispanic people and does not have ‘give-up’ in her dictionary.

About Tatiana Suarez’s parents and family

Suarez has seen the struggles her mother Lisa went through to raise her and her brother. She recalled the same while speaking to UFC as well. “My mom was a single parent, and she did everything on her own, so it’s not like anything was handed to me,” said Suarez. “My mom would scrape up the change under her seat to get gas money so she could take me to my wrestling practices, and I was able to see this. And because my mom was so independent and strong, I believe I got those characteristics from her because she was so strong and independent.” 

This zeal later on made her one of the best wrestlers in the USA and her brother Chris played a huge role in this. She continued in the same interview, “He was a successful wrestler, as well, he was seven years older than me, so I got to see the things that he did right and the things that he did wrong. So I was able to learn from those things and also it inspired me to reach for the stars and believe in myself.” 

Suarez got her strengths from her mother, grandmother Suzanne, and her brother, apart from that her extended family and pillars of support included her coach Romie Aram, and her partner, fellow professional MMA star Patrik ‘Patchy’ Mix. From battling cancer to having to stop her dreams for a knee injury, she has faced it all and still is undefeated. However, this time her opponent is Zhang Weili who is not an easy wall to break. She said to UFC, “I think that my matchup with Weili is going to be fireworks. I think we’re going to bring out the best out of each other.” So, let’s see Suarez bring out her best self in this fight! Are you ready?