UFC ladies’s flyweight Tracy Cortez (11-1) enters the most important combat of her life on Saturday as she headlines UFC on ESPN 59 in opposition to former two-time strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas. Cortez has lofty aspirations and objectives that exceed a win over Namajunas (12-6).
There have been a number of ladies pioneers within the sport: Tara LaRosa, Shelby Walker, Gina Carano, and Miesha Tate, to call only a few. All of them laid the way in which for Ronda Rousey to place ladies’s MMA on the mainstream map. Rousey was topped the inaugural UFC ladies’s bantamweight champion in 2012 and went on to set almost each UFC report for girls. Cortez plans to surpass Rousey’s accomplishments.
“Everybody’s ready or the following Ronda, for the following Joanna [Jędrzejczyk]. Somebody unbelievable like Weili [Zhang] to remain on prime and show themselves. Somebody like Rose to trip that like Ronda did, and even myself now that I am right here,” Cortez mentioned throughout an look on The MMA Hour.
“I am very grateful for the way in which Ronda paved the way in which for girls’s MMA. Nobody has achieved it like she has. I say this humbly, I hope to surpass that,” continued Cortez.
Cortez will enter the octagon on Saturday at Ball Area in Denver, Colorado ranked eleventh within the ladies’s flyweight division. Namajunas will make the stroll to the cage ranked sixth. It is going to be Cortez’ first UFC primary occasion, however she loves having stress to carry out.
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“I thrive off of stress. I’ve all the time been judged and missed and only a fairly face. I am right here now. The report speaks for itself, and I thrive off of it. I find it irresistible. I genuinely love the stress. I really feel like I carry out. I embrace it to the fullest,” Cortez mentioned.
A win over Namajunas would put Cortez squarely in contender standing, however she’s seeking to be greater than only a contender. She plans to be one of the best.
“I see myself being one of the best. I look again at my fights in opposition to these women which can be killers. Killers. Black bets, they cannot submit me. I am nonetheless in disbelief. That is me? Oh my God. It is simply a kind of issues the place I noticed myself, I used to be watching footage of myself and I mentioned, ‘Man, I’ve the power to be one of the best. I’ve what it takes,'” Cortez mentioned. “I have been coaching for this. I have been getting ready for this.”
