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Coach Conversation | Zhang Weili vs Tatiana Suarez
UFC Veteran And MMA Coach Danny Castillo Breaks Down Saturday’s Strawweight Title Fight
Championship fights are layered battles, with the competitors stepping into the Octagon operating at the highest level in their respective weight classes. Breaking down how these pivotal contests could possibly play out is a challenging venture, which is why UFC staff writer E. Spencer Kyte has taken to enlisting the help of some of the sharpest minds in the sport to help dissect these critical contests.
With Zhang Weili set to defend her strawweight title against Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312, Kyte called upon Danny Castillo, chief corner for recent title challenger Yan Xiaonan, to dive into the matchup and dissect the fight over the series’ four key points.
Best Trait of Each Fighter
Kyte: You just coached against Zhang, you have a tremendous wrestling background and understand these dynamics so well, so it only made sense to reach out and get you to break down this fight with me.
So let’s get into it — what’s the best trait of each fighter?
Tatiana Suarez Sit-Down Interview | UFC 312
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Tatiana Suarez Sit-Down Interview | UFC 312
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Castillo: For Tatiana, the obvious one is her wrestling and grappling; she has four submission finishes in the UFC, not including The Ultimate Fighter.
But I also think her size (is an important trait). She’s huge for the weight class and is going to be very big against Weili. I think her wrestling, her grappling, and her size are going to be her main advantages in this fight.
How To Watch UFC 312 In Your Country
As for Weili, I just think her experience and her all-around MMA game — her wrestling is improving every time, and she’s such a talented fighter that she doesn’t use it in every fight; she uses it when she needs to use it.
I also think her championship experience, where she’s had several five-round fights, and that’s something we haven’t seen from Tatiana. Usually — and I wouldn’t say all the time — but usually, heavy grapplers tend to gas out. There are those few, Merab being one of them…
Kyte: He’s an outlier, dude; he doesn’t count. Merab is an alien.
Castillo: He’s a freak!
But I’m very interested to see how that plays out. It’s gonna be a good fight. There are a lot of boxes unchecked for me, for Tatiana, so I’m excited to see the fight.
UFC 312 FREE FIGHTS: Du Plessis vs Strickland 1 | Zhang vs Yan | Strickland vs Costa | Du Plessis vs Adesanya | Suarez vs Andrade
Kyte: What is it about Suarez’ wrestling because, to me, from the day she turned up on The Ultimate Fighter, the day she turned up in the UFC, it was clear that she’s on a different level. What is it that separates her? What is it that differentiates her from more or less everybody else.
Castillo: It’s very rare that you have a wrestler that is good in both styles of wrestling.
What I mean by that is that she’s very good in the open, so traditional freestyle wrestling, collegiate wrestling, but also, so very good in the clinch, so her Greco-style wrestling is very good. She can throw, she can pummel really well, she can control the tie-up, and her size and grit where she can put you on the cage (are all very good).
Zhang Weili | Best Finishes
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Zhang Weili | Best Finishes
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It’s so rare that you get a wrestler with elite abilities at both styles, and she’s one of them, and I think that’s what makes her a great fighter and hard to prepare for. It’s hard enough to prepare for a takedown in the open — a traditional double-leg or single-leg — and then you throw in upper bodies, and you have to worry about throws, too.
Kyte: You mentioned the championship pedigree and championship experience as a big positive for Weili, and I agree — I think it’s something we don’t talk about enough in championship fights.
How big of a part do you feel that played in the last fight and does it play here?
RELATED: The Moment Arrives For Suarez
Castillo: Championship fights on their own is one thing, and then five-round fights is another thing, and Weili has both. Tatiana doesn’t have either of those; I think she’s only been the distance twice, so that’s gonna be huge.
As I rewatch the fight with Weili and Yan, it almost seemed like Weili was starting to slow down in the fourth and fifth rounds, and that’s when her experience kicked in. That’s when she slowed the fight down, that’s when she went to the takedown, that’s where she controlled the fight.
Tatiana Suarez had lofty expectations on her the moment she walked into the Octagon, but her path to her first title shot at #UFC312 was anything but simple.
— UFC News (@UFCNews) January 22, 2025
Read about Suarez's journey here ➡️: https://t.co/dnqjb4Pwg4 https://t.co/dnqjb4Pwg4
Gas tank against gas tank? It’s up in the air — and these are the boxes that are unchecked for me. Will Weili be able to take her down and slow down the fight like she did against Yan? It’s also going to be interesting to see how Tatiana is able to push in the fourth and fifth rounds.
Full UFC 312 Fight Card Preview
Those are two boxes that are unticked, but there’s a ton. It’s going to be an interesting fight.
Path to Victory for Each Fighter
Kyte: What are the paths to victory for each fighter?
Castillo: For Weili, I think her speed is definitely going to be a factor; her speed and experience are going to be huge.
She is a complete MMA fighter. You’ve got Amanda Nunes and the elites of the women’s divisions, but I believe she’s up there, and a win cements her as one of the best female fighters in history.
Full Fight | Tatiana Suarez vs Jéssica Andrade
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Full Fight | Tatiana Suarez vs Jéssica Andrade
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She’s well-rounded everywhere and seems to keep getting better and better. I think using her speed, using her footwork, and mixing up her striking will help in this fight. I think if she chops away at those low ankle attacks, I don’t think Tatiana has the experience to counter the way Yan did — Yan’s standup is phenomenal — so slowing her down with calf kicks, using her footwork, using her speed in the big cage will play into her game.
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As far as Tatiana, I think it’s about her imposing her will — using her size, being a bully in there. She’s a very long fighter, so her being able to dictate the spacing, close the distance when she needs to, and force the wrestling (is her path to victory).
Her wrestling and her grappling are better than Weili’s, but not by much, in terms of submissions. She's a better wrestler than Weili is, overall, but not by much.
X Factor
Kyte: If there is an X-factor in this fight, something that can switch things around — and maybe we’ve already talked about it with the championship experience part of it — but what else is there that stands out for you as an “if this happens, we could see something different.”
Castillo: It’s really challenging for me (to know what to expect in this fight) because Tatiana has had so many long layoffs; she’s had a three-year layoff and almost a two-year layoff.
In those layoffs, fighters that are high-level wrestlers, the gains they’re able to make are not like other fighters, because they’re so experienced with the way they use their bodies. It’s going to be interesting to see — even though she was on these long layoffs, I’m sure she was training, so the possibility of her being able to make huge gains in the striking department is high.
UFC 312 COUNTDOWN: Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 | Zhang vs Suarez | Full Episode
Her being comfortable to use those against a dangerous fighter like Weili is another thing where we have no idea. But she has a great camp, and her striking coach Romie (Aram) is a great coach, so I’m sure they’ve gotten so much better in their striking and they have a great game plan. It’ll be interesting to me to see if he was able to get her to be comfortable with the improvements in her striking, because everyone can improve, but when you have someone trying to kick you in the face, take your head off, that’s when things change.
Comfort is a big one for me. I know she’s gonna be better than the fighter she was the last time we saw her — that’s just the way she is — so it’ll come down to if her comfort is there.
Kyte: It’s interesting, and maybe I’m a pessimist or too anxious about these things, but I come to it from the other side of things where it’s been a year-and-a-half again, she’s had six fights in eight years in the UFC since she won the Ultimate Fighter, and at what time do all these injuries start to create a situation where we’ve just missed the best version of Tatiana Suarez?
It would be a tragedy and one of the greatest “what ifs,” but it’s a thing for me that I think about because I know what I’m getting with Weili — she’s turning up ready to go, fit as can be, has been there, done it, has the t-shirts.
A healthy, fully ready version of Tatiana? I love this fight, but after all these layoffs, is there a point where you just can’t get it all the way back? I hope she is steps ahead of the last time we saw her, because she looked good against (Jessica) Andrade, and I hope she’s made gains, but the hesitant version of me can’t shake the question, “Did we miss the best version of things?”
How To Watch UFC 312 In Your Country
Castillo: That’s why it’s good for me to do these things because you just brought up something I didn’t even think about: will the fear of her re-injuring herself in the fight come up?
That’s not something people take into consideration is you’ve got an athlete that has been hurt twice, majorly, and coming back from that, you’re worried about…
Kyte: How’s my knee? Does my knee hold up?
Castillo: Is she gonna come into the fight healthy? Is that knee going to be in the back of her head as they start to wrestle? Is she gonna be more timid? Is she going to be second-guessing herself?
That’s something interesting to throw out there when breaking down these fights because I’ve seen it with other fighters. It’ll be interesting to see.
One Coaching Curiosity
Kyte: Is there a curiosity point for you as a coach, as a former competitor, that you look at with this fight that piques your interest? Anything that stands out for you?
READ: MMA Coach Breaks Down UFC 312 Rematch Between Du Plessis & Strickland
Castillo: I would like to see how Weili reacts to the wrestling? How her wrestling stacks up against a high-level wrestler. Is she as good as we saw or was she just better than an inexperienced wrestler in Yan?
Tatiana Suarez Fight Week Interview | UFC 312
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Tatiana Suarez Fight Week Interview | UFC 312
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We know that Weili deals well with adversity — Yan dropped her once or twice in that fight, and she bounced back, responded very well — and she’s a true champion. I view her as going down as one of the greats in female history.
But I wanna see how she does against such a great wrestler.
Kyte: Me too.
I really hope we get the absolute best version of this fight possible. I think this could be rally special. I can’t wait for it!
UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 took place live from Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia on February 8, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!