Crazy Godinez is on the point of a title shot, however first she should defeat one among strawweight’s hardest gatekeepers. The Mexican-Canadian fighter will tackle Tatiana Suarez at UFC 327 in Miami on April 11 together with her back-to-back wins and championship aspirations on the road for this one efficiency.
Crazy Godinez vs. Tatiana Suarez
For Godinez, the stakes have by no means been greater. Ranked No. 7 in her division, she has back-to-back choice wins over former champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 319 in August 2025 and Giulia Polastri in March 2025. On the opposite facet of the cage stands No. 2 ranked Suarez, who bounced again from the primary lack of her profession with a unanimous choice to Amanda Lemos at Noche UFC in September 2025.
“This can be a essential battle as a result of we’re very near the belt,” Godinez stated in an interview with MMA Junkie. “I contemplate this match to be some of the vital matches. Each time I play, I contemplate that match to be an important match, as a result of the subsequent match solely will get me nearer to the place I wish to be. Each match is vital to me. Each match is exclusive. However undoubtedly this one is vital, as a result of it solely strikes me nearer to that belt. If not, then I am the subsequent challenger.”
The division has modified since Godinez started his present operation. Zhang Weili vacated the strawweight title in August 2025 to problem flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, opening the door for a brand new challenger. Mackenzie Dern defeated Vilna Jandirova by unanimous choice at UFC 321 in October 2025 to win the vacant belt. Godinez, who misplaced a call to Dern in August 2024, believes defeating Suarez will clear the trail ahead.
“I feel it is a large alternative for me,” Godinez defined. “This can be a essential match for me and a match that I’ve to win to battle for the title and attain my objective of changing into champion and we’ll go from there.”
Her UFC schedule is bold. When requested what he thought this yr would seem like if every part went his manner, Godinez shared his imaginative and prescient. “If it had been as much as me, I’d beat Tatiana after which I’d be the subsequent challenger for the belt, win the belt and end this yr as champion, after which begin defending the belt early subsequent yr and proceed to be champion and be dominant.”
The development she has made at WKX in Vancouver beneath coach John may be seen all through her current performances. After two straight losses to Dern and Jandiroba in 2024, Godinez returned to Vancouver, the place he began his profession, and believes the transfer was the catalyst for his comeback. She videotaped each coaching session to trace her progress and be capable of determine delicate changes that result in success on recreation night time.
“Final yr, I’ve been tenting with John and Johnny right here at WKX in Vancouver, and I really feel like you possibly can see a giant distinction in all of the modifications I’ve made,” Godinez stated. “I am all the time videotaping myself, so I see numerous issues I am doing now that I wasn’t doing earlier than. My coach is all the time watching me once I’m coaching, so he is fast to level out issues I want to repair or enhance. So I can see it whereas I am coaching, and it is simpler to do it once I exit to play.”
Godinez likens battle camp to studying choreography and says he tries to “consider preventing as a dance.” Throughout camp, she stated, “After I’m studying, once I’m working towards, I am dancing. So when it is time to battle, I can do the dances I have been working towards for the previous few months.”
Suarez faces a giant problem. Suarez, 35, remained undefeated till February 2025, when he suffered a lopsided unanimous choice loss to Weili Zhang at UFC 312. The title battle uncovered the vulnerabilities in Suarez’s recreation, as Zhang turned the primary fighter within the UFC to knock down Suarez, severely shaking her with blows within the third spherical. Nonetheless, Suarez’s 11-1 file consists of seven wins within the UFC, six of which got here by submission or knockout.
For Godinez, who has a file of 14-5 total and 9-5 within the UFC, the trail to gold leads on to Suarez. She has fought robust competitors all through her time within the UFC, dealing with former and future title challengers similar to Dern, Jandiroba, and Andrade. Now, with new champion Dern holding the belt and the burden class realigned after Weili’s departure, Godinez is poised for the largest alternative of his profession.
“I study quite a bit each battle camp, and each time I battle a unique opponent, it helps me adapt, add issues, incorporate issues, and in any other case get higher,” Godinez stated.
Godinez, who’s 32 years previous and in his prime, believes that happiness is the important thing to peak efficiency. Coaching in Vancouver, nearer to her household, made an enormous distinction. “I do know that once I’m happiest is once I’m acting at my greatest and coaching at my greatest,” she stated.
A victory over Suarez at UFC 327 could be the largest win of Godinez’s profession, seemingly sealing him a title shot towards Dern and a rematch that might outline the legacies of each fighters. However first she has to carry out the dance she has been rehearsing for months.
