Jandiroba says the title fight made her a better fighter

Virna Jandiroba says the title fight made her a better fighter. She told UFC.com on November 6.

Jandiroba meets Tatiana Suarez at women’s strawweight on Saturday, November 7, at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, strawweight is 115 pounds (52 kg), and the bout is the co-main under Waldo Cortes Acosta and Johnny Walker, which the card story books.

Mackenzie Dern took the vacant women’s strawweight title with a unanimous decision over Jandiroba at 5:00 of the fifth round at UFC 321 on October 25, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, and Jandiroba said the exchanges on the feet and on the ground added to her repertoire. The camp, she said, was the larger share: she worked on herself as a fighter and as a person, and on the mentality of a title fight. Twenty-five minutes is a long time to exchange, she said, and the preparation that got her into the Octagon is what she carries from it.

Jandiroba is 38 and 23-4, she is 9-4 in the UFC, she is 63 inches (160 cm) with a 64-inch (163 cm) reach, and she beat Tabatha Ricci by unanimous decision at 5:00 of the third round on April 4, 2026, at the Meta Apex. Two hundred seventeen days sit between that bout and Saturday, this is her 14th UFC fight, and she said the anxiety is still there while the procedures are familiar now.

Suarez is 35 and 12-1, she is 9-1 in the UFC, she is 65 inches (165 cm) with a 66-inch (168 cm) reach, and she submitted Loopy Godínez with a rear-naked choke at 2:29 of the second round at UFC 327 on April 11, 2026. Two hundred ten days sit between that bout and Saturday. The one loss is a five-round unanimous decision to Zhang Weili for the women’s strawweight title on February 9, 2025, at UFC 312.

They have been booked three times. Jandiroba said the first booking was mostly mental preparation because she was injured soon after it was announced, the second was a proper camp, and this third camp is the deepest study of an opponent she has done, so she is sharper and already familiar with Suarez’s game.

Jandiroba said the fight is going to the ground. Suarez wrestles and Jandiroba’s game is jiu-jitsu, and Jandiroba said the fighter who mixes the two wins. In an ideal world, she said, she submits Suarez and leaves with her arm raised. The UFC rankings list Suarez at No. 2 and Jandiroba at No. 3 at strawweight, and the Meta rankings list Jandiroba at No. 2 and Suarez at No. 3. Jandiroba said a win would put her closer to another title shot because of those places and what both have done in the division, and she said the shot itself is not hers to give.

Start time

Pacific time is eight hours behind UTC, and Sydney is on daylight time, eleven hours ahead of UTC.

Prelims and the main card in Las Vegas:

• Las Vegas: 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• London: 10 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday
• Sydney: 9 a.m. and noon Sunday

In New York that is 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern. The later clock is the main card, and Jandiroba’s bout is the co-main on it. The card streams on Paramount+.