Athletes
Tracy Cortez Thrives Off Pressure
Making Her Main Event Debut, Tracy Cortez Pursues A “Life Changing” Win At UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs Cortez
For as composed as Tracy Cortez is ahead of the biggest fight of her life, milestones are still milestones. Making it to the UFC, winning that first fight in the Octagon, getting on a poster for the first time — they’re things that’ll stir up emotions in the most stoic of fighters. So, when Cortez is talking with UFC.com about seeing her face on the poster for the first time, she can’t help but feel a type of way.
“I've still yet to process it only because we're working, but yeah, it's just a dream come true being here,” Cortez told UFC.com. “It's definitely an accomplishment… It was just perfect timing. Perfect timing with the right preparation and no hesitation.”
Cortez was already preparing to face Miranda Maverick on July 20, and her camp was going so well that her coaches at Fight Ready MMA in Scottsdale, Arizona, were a little taken aback. On sparring days, Cortez kept asking for more rounds, and she was delivering. So, when the call came to replace an injured Maycee Barber opposite former champion Rose Namajunas in Denver, there wasn’t much to think about.
UFC DENVER | Main Event Spotlight: Namajunas vs Cortez
And other than getting a little misty-eyed during our interview, Cortez is taking all the extra obligations that come with headlining a UFC Fight Night in stride. In her own words, “it’s just another workday.”
“I felt like it's kind of destiny,” she said. “This was meant to happen. I feel as if I've been preparing for this for a long time.
“I'm not nervous at all,” she continued. “If anything, this is what it takes. This is why we're here. To fight the best and see if we are the best. This is really going to show me where I belong in this division.”
After earning her contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, Cortez has methodically stacked wins. Her most impressive arguably came in her most recent fight. Facing Jasmine Jasudavicius at Noche UFC, Cortez showed a new level to her striking game, landing a career-best 103 strikes while still showing grappling prowess, stuffing eight of her opponent’s 10 takedown attempts.
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Cortez is adamant that she isn’t ever trying to prove a point. Rather, she is quite confident in her abilities and the training she does with Santino Defranco and Eddie Cha to sharpen those tools. However, it’s hard to see her last victory and not come away seeing that performance as one to show how she is rounding out her entire toolchest.
“I'm not trying to get any kind of validation from the public,” Cortez refuted. “I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of. I know my skill set and with the right coaching — there's no such thing as a perfect camp, but I do believe we have a pretty darn close one — and it was just incredible to see everything that I worked so hard for to improve and evolve just come together.”
Tracy Cortez | UFC Origins
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Tracy Cortez | UFC Origins
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Against Namajunas, Cortez takes solace in the fact that the “Thug” is “just as unprepared” as she is in terms of carving out a gameplan for the other. She does see a win over Namajunas as one that could be “life changing.” It certainly would catapult Cortez up the rankings and perhaps even on the edge of the title picture.
That’s all speculation for now, though. What matters to Cortez is getting her hand raised at all costs on July 13. Although the realization that she will make the second-to-last walk of the night takes her aback just a bit, she is steadfast in how she wants to approach it all, including keeping her late-brother Jose on her mind as she struts to the Octagon.
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“I'm going to be in the moment,” Cortez said. “I'm going to be embracing it. I've seen a lot of fighters not do too well under the pressure, and I thrive off of it. I've been wanting this for so long, and just walking down there, I'm going to definitely just keep my brother's memory right there with me, and he'll be walking with me, too.”
In other words, it’s just another day at the office for Tracy Cortez.
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!
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