Tracy Cortez returns to action this Saturday on the undercard of UFC Vegas 24. Standing pretty at 8-1, with her only professional loss coming in her debut back in 2017, Tracy Cortez looks to break into the top 15 with a win in Vegas.
She holds victories over Maria Agapova, Vanessa Melo and Stephanie Egger in the UFC. Her win over Agapova came on the contender series in 2019, gaining a contract. Cortez can easily be the star the UFC are looking for. She got an interesting back story, fighting in honour of her brother, who sadly passed away in 2011 as well as fighting for her family and fun fight style and all the skill needed to make it far in the organisation.
"My [family] is the only thing that's on my mind when I'm walking out." – Hear @TracyCortezMMA talk about transitioning from Dana White's Contender Series to her @UFC debut and the importance of her family 🔊⬆️ #UFCSP
Watch Cortez's debut on ESPN+ : https://t.co/EMI82DoIvc pic.twitter.com/qldvrKu7DW
— UFC News (@UFCNews) November 12, 2019
UFC Vegas 24
In her way will be a five-year UFC veteran, Justin Kish. Kish is 3-3 in her UFC career thus far, with wins over Nina Nunes, Ashley Yoder and Lucie Pudilova. Most recently, she lost via rear-naked choke to Sabina Mazo back in September.
Tracy Cortez will be making her first UFC fight at flyweight since her contender series bout, competing at bantamweight in her two previous apperances. The card on the official UFC website has Tracy Cortez vs. Justine Kish headlining the prelims. This offers a huge opportunity for Cortez to steal the show ahead of the main card.
With her wrestling heavy approach, she certainly has the skills to be a problem at 125lbs or 135lbs, depending on where she chooses to fight next. Expect another wrestling based approach from Cortez at UFC Vegas 24. She will hold a size advantage over Kish, who has previously fought down at strawweight. With her relentless style, Cortez should ease to victory in this one, with the bookies having her as one of the biggest favourites on the card.
Tracy Cortez – New Flyweight Contender?
If we ignore the non-existent featherweight division, the flyweight division isn’t the strongest in the women’s game. At flyweight, the top 15 seems to be filled with women with just one or two victories, or who are on the end of losing streaks.
With names like Miranda Maverick breaking into the top 15 off the back of just two UFC victories, Tracy Cortez will be looking to do the same at UFC Vegas 24. We saw Maverick struggle in the second round against Gillian Robertson so Cortez could manipulate that area of her game if they were ever to face off. Concentrating on the lower end of the top 15, Cortez could cause problems with her wrestling style. We’ve seen vulnerabilities in Antonina Shevchenko‘s ground game, especially against Katlyn Chookagian. Andrea Lee has suffered three straight losses as of late and is still ranked in the division.
If Cortez can get a big win on Saturday and progress to 3-0 in the UFC, it would be hard to deny her a place in the rankings, especially if she wins in an impressive fashion. First things first, however, she has to get past Kish, which isn’t always easy.
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