Silvana Gomez Juarez

Silvana Gomez Juarez is the first Argentine woman to compete in the UFC, carrying a deep family legacy in martial arts into the octagon. Born in San Miguel de Tucuman in 1984, she was introduced to kung fu, kickboxing, and sanda by her martial artist parents at age five, and competed on the Brazilian and Mexican regional MMA circuits for years before earning her historic UFC call at age 37. Known by the nickname La Malvada (The Evil) for her aggressive fighting style, Gomez Juarez is a heavy-handed striker who lands the vast majority of her offense from distance, particularly through leg kicks and explosive hand combinations. Her striking defense is sound at 62%, and she has finished six opponents in the first round across her career.

Her UFC run has been a story of extremes. After a tough submission loss to Lupita Godinez on her October 2021 debut, Gomez Juarez suffered another first-round armbar defeat to Vanessa Demopoulos at UFC 270. However, she responded with a dramatic statement: a devastating first-round knockout of Na Liang in June 2022 that earned her the Performance of the Night bonus. That victory was the high water mark of her time in the promotion. A subsequent unanimous decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 281 in November 2022 signaled the end of her tenure, as she was released from her contract shortly after.

What makes Gomez Juarez compelling is the intersection of her family story, her striking pedigree (she holds a 5th Dan in Kickboxing and a black belt in Kung Fu), and her willingness to trade power with opponents. At 38, having never held another job outside of fighting, she represents a particular kind of martial artist: one for whom combat sports is not a career choice but a family inheritance. Her vulnerability to submission grappling has been a recurrent liability, but when she can impose her striking, she is a dangerous finisher.