Athletes
Montana De La Rosa Plans To Steal The Show
Flyweight Ready To Shine In A Big Opportunity Against Tatiana Suarez At UFC Fight Night: Krylov vs Spann
Montana De La Rosa is ready to have everyone talking about her on Saturday night after she faces the returning Tatiana Suarez at UFC Fight Night: Krylov vs Spann.
Suarez hasn’t been inside the Octagon for over three years, but had dominant showings in her previous fights prior to being away. De La Rosa understands the task at hand, facing an undefeated fighter with a lot of hype behind her, but the flyweight knows that also comes with a lot of pressure.
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“Her wrestling is obviously very good, they call her the "Khabib," so I feel like she's going to have a lot of pressure on her to live up to those standards,” De La Rosa said. “I'm just going to impose my game plan on her.”
De La Rosa has been working on the holes in her game following her fight against Maycee Barber last April, where she lost via unanimous decision. The 28-year-old admits that things didn’t go how she expected them to, thinking that they would strike more during the fight.
She spent her last camp training for Barber in Colorado, where she spent most of her time focusing on striking, instead of improving her cage work and wrestling. Following that fight, she went back to Texas for fight camp, which allows her to be around her daughter while preparing for the fight.
She has learned a lot about herself after dealing with some injuries over the past year which have left her unable to compete, so she could focus on getting 100% healthy.
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“If I stay healthy and I train hard, I can compete with anyone; I just have to mentally be on point and it's endless from there.
“I think it's just part of the sport; it makes you grow in different ways, and you can't really help it, you just have to keep putting in the work and make sure you are taking care of yourself,” De La Rosa said.
Montana De La Rosa 2nd round TKO | UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Sakai
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Montana De La Rosa 2nd round TKO | UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs Sakai
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Up to this point in her career, Suarez has earned six out of her nine wins by finish, four of them coming in the first round. De La Rosa isn’t underestimating her opponent by any means, stating the many dominant performances she has shown in her previous fights.
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“I am expecting the best from her,” De La Ros said. I am expecting her to come in there how she looked with Carla (Esparza), super dominant, but then her last fight there were some holes in her game plan that we saw, and we'll see how she comes out, but that doesn't really matter.”
De La Rosa has been doing her homework and believes she has a game plan that will make her the one to come out victorious.
“I think just (be able to shine) everywhere,” De La Rosa said. “I feel like she's going to be kind of one-dimensional with her wrestling, so that will help me shine with my counter wrestling, my striking, my submissions I feel like I'll be able to showcase all of that.”
She believes that experience facing opponents that have been successful on the ground, such as Mackenzie Dern, Viviane Araújo, Mayra Bueno Silva and Ariane Lipski, will help her be successful if the fight with Suarez goes to the mat.
De La Rosa knows there is a big opportunity ahead facing Suarez on Saturday night, but she is ready to capitalize on the moment.
“I think everyone will be talking about me when I get that victory against Tatiana. She is a big name, a very dominant fighter, so I think everyone will be talking.”
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