Suarez submits De La Rosa in 1st UFC bout since 2019

Once considered a future UFC champion before suffering numerous injuries, Tatiana Suarez picked up right where she left off in her long-awaited Octagon return.

Suarez, fighting for the first time since May 2019, submitted Montana De La Rosa with a guillotine choke at the 2:51 mark of the second round in a women's flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.

During an exchange on the feet, Suarez jumped on a guillotine and, after tightening the choke, forced the tap. She controlled De La Rosa on the ground and against the fence in the first round, and she had no issue converting another takedown attempt in the second before locking in the submission.

After the fight, Suarez said she intends to return to her original weight class of 115 pounds and vowed to win the title.

Suarez dealt with knee and neck injuries over the last four years. She was originally scheduled to make her return against Roxanne Modafferi in September 2021 but had to pull out of the fight after tearing several ligaments in her knee.

Before Saturday, Suarez's most recent fight was a unanimous decision win over Nina Nunes at UFC 238. That performance elevated her to title contention in the strawweight division.

The 32-year-old, who improved to 6-0 in the UFC and 9-0 as a professional, now owns the second-longest active winning streak among the promotion's female fighters. Flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko holds the longest with nine straight victories.