Fight Coverage
Main Event Spotlight | UFC Denver
Preview Saturday’s Main Event In Denver, Colorado, Where Former Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas Takes On The Surging Tracy Cortez
With less than three weeks until her second consecutive flyweight main event, Rose Namajunas needed to make a dramatic shift in her preparation for UFC Denver, as her originally scheduled opponent, Maycee Barber, withdrew due to injury.
In comes Tracy Cortez, the No. 11 ranked UFC flyweight contender who hasn’t lost a fight since her professional debut in 2017. Now on an 11-fight win streak, Cortez will hope to overcome her biggest test to date against the former, two-time UFC strawweight champion.
Namajunas’ run at 115 pounds was nothing short of spectacular. Her nine strawweight wins are tied for fifth in the division’s history and her five finishes, including her iconic head kick knockout against current strawweight champion Zhang Weili, are tied for second all-time at 115 pounds.
Rose Namajunas | Best Moments
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Rose Namajunas | Best Moments
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Of Namajunas’ nine wins, four came in title fights; “Thug Rose” picked up a pair of victories against UFC Hall of Famer Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang.
After losing the 115-pound title at the hands of Carla Esparza at UFC 274, Namajunas decided to take her talents to the flyweight division. While her debut at 125 pounds, a three-round co-main event clash against France’s Manon Fiorot, didn’t culminate in a win, Namajunas garnered 15 valuable minutes against one of the division’s elite.
Six months later, “Thug Rose” showcased an excellent, well-rounded attack over 25 minutes in a flyweight main event bout against Amanda Ribas. Namajunas out-struck Ribas 169-137, landed nearly 50 percent of her significant strikes thrown and collected just under seven minutes of control time.
Which brings us to UFC Denver, where Namajunas will try to build momentum following her first flyweight victory against Cortez, who can catapult herself toward the top of the flyweight rankings with a win in The Mile High City.
Cortez has remained perfect through her first five UFC fights since her promotional debut in 2019. Her five-fight win streak is tied for the fifth longest among active fighters across all three UFC women’s divisions. Cortez entered the UFC as a bantamweight, but after picking up back-to-back wins at 135 pounds, Cortez transitioned to flyweight, where she’s found similar success; Cortez has out-struck all five of her UFC opponents.
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The most compelling statistic, however, is not the quantity of Cortez’s strikes, but her accuracy. Cortez has connected on 53.2 percent of her significant strikes in the UFC, which is a sizeable increase on the UFC average of 44.3 percent. Cortez has also never landed less than 47 percent of her significant strike attempts in any of her UFC fights.
What makes Saturday’s main event so interesting is while Cortez leads in strikes landed per minute (4.05-3.69), striking accuracy (53.1%-41.5%) and strike differential (+1.23-+0.18), Namajunas, on paper, appears to have a clear power advantage.
Cortez has yet to land a knockdown in the UFC, while Namajunas’ four knockdowns at 115 pounds are the third most in the division’s history. Three of those knockdowns were also earned in title fights against Jedrzejczyk, Zhang and Jessica Andrade. Her three knockdowns in title fights sits second by any woman in UFC championship history behind only Amanda Nunes.
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Another aspect of this fight to look at is their wrestling. While both fighters find ample success on the feet, neither are afraid to mix in takedowns.
“Thug Rose” has the third highest takedown accuracy in strawweight history at 57.6 percent, and her 19 takedowns are the seventh most all-time at 115 pounds. Since moving up to flyweight, though, Namajunas has not carried that same success. Namajunas failed on all six takedown attempts against Fiorot, and landed just one of three against Ribas.
Tracy Cortez | UFC Origins
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Tracy Cortez | UFC Origins
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While Namajunas has slightly higher takedown accuracy, Cortez secures more takedowns, on average, per 15 minutes (2.0-1.38), and leads Namajunas in takedown defense (73.9%-59.2%). Cortez secured at least two takedowns in her first four UFC fights; Cortez’s most recent bout against Jasmine Jasudavicius was the first time in her UFC career she did not record a takedown.
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Once Cortez gets you to the ground, get comfortable. In her one-sided UFC debut, Cortez not only out-struck her opponent Vanessa Melo 155-76, she nearly amassed nine minutes of control time. Then, against Stephanie Egger, Cortez landed three of five takedown attempts and collected a whopping nine minutes and 58 seconds of control time.
One thing these statistics tell us is Denver is in for a treat with this main event. Will Namajunas shine under the bright lights once again, or will Cortez stun the Denver crowd with what would be the biggest win of her professional career against the former champion? All questions will be answered this Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs Cortez, live from Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs Cortez took place live from Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on July 13, 2024. See the Final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
