Tatiana Suarez Says Beating Carla Esparza Puts Her Closer To Title Shot

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Tatiana Suarez said that if she can beat Carla Esparza at UFC 228, it will put her in line for a strawweight title shot. Here are highlights:

On wanting a title opportunity: “I’ve believed that (I’d be champion) since I started MMA. I knew I was going to be the best in the world and I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go into fighting and I’m going to try to be the best in the world.’ I was like, ‘I’m going to be the best in the world.’ There’s a difference. I’ve always had that mentality – for wrestling, now MMA. Who wants to go into something and be like, ‘I want to be second best!’ No one does that. I’m going in there and I’m just going to try to prove that I am the No. 1 strawweight in this world. My time will come; it’s just a matter of time.”

On fighting Esparza: “She’s definitely the best fighter that I’ve faced so far by far. I look forward to putting my fighting out there and just show everybody what I can do. I’ve told so many people that because I don’t have the high-level competition – obviously they’re going to build you up and not just be like, ‘We’re going to put you up against the No. 1 person right away.’ Some people sometimes that somehow happens, just not with me. But that’s OK, I like this route, this is a good route for me.

On how close she is to a title shot: “I definitely think when I win this fight there will be a title shot coming soon. One or two fights, maybe even just one fight. I think I’ll fight a No. 1 or No. 2 contender, maybe like Claudia (Gadelha) or (Jessica) Andrade or Karolina (Kowalkiewicz) and then I’ll be right in line for that belt.”