"Look what you did to the champion" - Tatiana Suarez opens up about hardships of dealing with injuries that necessitated prolonged hiatus from MMA 

Tatiana Suarez had to face several trials and tribulations in her combat sports career. A two-time wrestling World Champion, Suarez's Olympic hopes were derailed due to a neck injury, followed by the detection of thyroid cancer.

Similar to her wrestling career, the 34-year-old's UFC career too had setbacks. After winning TUF 23, Suarez reeled off four victories but her next fight came almost four years later. However, she won Performance of the Night bonuses in her two fights after her lengthy break due to injuries.

Speaking to Daniel Cormier on his DC Check-In series, Suarez opened up about her hardship, watching fighters she defeated become champions, all the while people close to her label her the best.

"Yeah, I mean, it is hard. But again, like for me, I’m just like people are like, 'Man, look what you did to the champion. They’re so lucky that you’re out.' And I’m like, Yeah, yeah, I understand.' But I’m not going to let that discourage me or nothing like that. I’m just going to do what I have to do and like take care of business."

He added:

"Like I know for me, people were like, 'Well, I don’t understand how she got this. She doesn’t deserve it,' this and that. And I’m like you know, they think that because everybody else was working, and I’m like, I was working too. Like, you think that just because I was injured, I wasn’t working? I mean, I showed up every single day."

After the fight against Nina Nunes at UFC 238, Suarez suffered a neck injury, but she chose to do rehab instead of surgery. Unfortunately, after the undefeated fighter's successful rehab, she hurt her knee and underwent the tough routine again, eventually returning after almost four years.

Check out Tatiana Suarez's comments below (5:22):

During her extended absence, Alexa Grasso became the flyweight champion while Carla Esparza did the same at strawweight. Tatiana Suarez had defeated both, Grasso via submission and Esparza via TKO.

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Tatiana Suarez explains what makes Zhang Weili special

During Tatiana Suarez's extended absence, Zhang Weili became a two-time strawweight champion, defending the title three times. During an interview with Daniel Cormier, the UFC Hall of Famer asked Suarez what makes Weili special.

The undefeated strawweight praised the champion, giving props to the Chinese fighter's work ethic. However, Suarez predicted she would finish Weili at UFC 312.

"I think for her, you know, she has a strong work ethic, just like myself. You know, she’s really, really, like she works hard, you can tell. And, you know, she has a good gas tank. You know, she’s a very well-rounded fighter. But for me, I’m a finisher. So I’m going to go out there, and I’m going to finish her," Suarez said [at 7:11 of the above YouTube interview].