JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

JavaScript

var div = document.createElement('div');
div.innerHTML = 'Hello, my name is mauricio, and i like <a href="#">Star Wars</a>';

for (var i = 0, children = div.childNodes, len = children.length; i < len; i++) {
    var child = children[i];
    if (child.nodeType === 3 && child.nodeValue.indexOf('a') > -1) {
        var segments = child.nodeValue.split('a');
        for (var k = 0, lk = segments.length; k < lk; k++) {
            div.insertBefore(document.createTextNode(segments[k]), child);
            if (k < lk - 1) {
                var span = document.createElement('span');
                span.className = 'ui-match';
                span.appendChild(document.createTextNode('R'));
                div.insertBefore(span, child);
            }
        }
        div.removeChild(child);
    }
}

console.log(div.innerHTML);