UFC Denver Preview
The UFC is invading the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Saturday July 13 for an action-packed card of fights. The main event will be in the women’s flyweight division between former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas and #11 Tracy Cortez. Namajunas was originally scheduled to battle rising contender Maycee Barber, but Barber had to withdraw from the fight due to ongoing health issues.
Namajunas is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Ribas in March. The win was a big rebound after losing two straight fights in which she lost the strawweight title and her flyweight debut. Namajunas was excited to fight Barber after a not so friendly back and forth on social media.
“It’s just been a few interactions that I’ve had with her, or on social media a long time ago, just like silly stuff,” Namajunas said. “She posted a picture of me with my training partners and X’d out all of their faces and then circled my face and was like, ‘I’m coming for you next.’ I’m just like, ‘OK.’
The 32-year-old continued, “She always tries to say that by beating my training partners, [she thinks], ‘I know that broke her.’ You don’t know what could break me, because there’s a lot more that has to break me. I don’t have anything personal against her, but the competitor inside of me, it’s like, yeah, I really wanted to show her what’s up.”
Despite her intrigue in fighting Barber, she knows Cortez will not be an easy fight. “Definitely, fighting Maycee was super exciting at the time,” Namajunas said. “I was a little disappointed to find out the news, but now that it’s Tracy, it’s just different. I’m just as excited.
“I went through that process of being like, ‘Oh, man,’ and then as soon as they were working on Tracy, it took me a second, but once I made that transition, it took me a day to process it, and it was like, ‘Alright, this is what we’re doing.”
The former champion believes that a win over Cortez puts her in the title conversation at 125 pounds. “I’d say I’m right in that title contention talks [with a win],” Namajunas said. “God willing, I’m healthy, I’m in shape and I’m ready to go with a win and whatever opportunities they want to give me. I could see myself fighting for the belt really soon. So it’s just a matter of doing my job and fighting to the best of my abilities. And anything’s possible.”
Namajunas has already had a hall of fame worthy career, but a title in a second weight class can solidify her position as one of the greatest women’s fighters of all-time. In her storied career she has key victories over Zhang Weili (twice), Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jędrzejczyk (twice), Michelle Waterson, Tecia Torres, Paige VanZant, and Angela Hill.
Cortez has won 11 straight fights since losing her pro debut and is 5-0 in the UFC. She most recently defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius by unanimous decision in September. She will undoubtedly be facing the toughest test of her career on Saturday.
The 30-year-old talked about why she took this fight with Namajunas. “I’m a gamer,” Cortez said. “I’m not one to ever shy down from a challenge. I’m not ever one to say no to great opportunities. This is how the greats are made. This is how legends are made. To fight a former world champ, and have a call – I felt extremely blessed and jumped on it.”
Cortez continued, “I’m going to be blunt: It’s just a learning experience for me, this is all new to me. I’ve never taken a short-notice (fight), let alone against a former world champ. But I’m confident within myself and my skills. It was just everything else around me that I had to figure out. Everything went really smooth, actually incredibly smooth. I think I stressed myself out more than I should have.”
Despite the respect she has for Namajunas, Cortez believes she is the toughest fight Namajunas could have had at flyweight. “Who doesn’t love Rose? She’s an incredible person, but unfortunately, we are in the fighting business,” Cortez said. “She wants to move up to 125 and we’re going to face each other. Whether it’s now or down the road, it just happens to be now. I have nothing bad to say about Rose and if anything, I’m excited for this challenge and I’m grateful she took this fight with me.
“I want to say I’m a true 125er. Sh*t, I could even fight at 135 but I’m a real flyweight and I don’t think she’s yet to face someone like myself, and vice versa. I’ve never faced a former world champion, so it’s putting both of us in a good test.”
If Cortez wins on Saturday what is next for Cortez? “I really want to fight for the belt,” Cortez said. “I know there’s a lot of people ahead of me still. I know winning this fight, where it could move me to. And the performance I put on Saturday, I know everything that comes with it. If I get the opportunity and they grant me the opportunity to fight at the Sphere, I think it would be incredible history. Two Mexican women on Mexican Independence Day fighting on the biggest sport event ever. I think that would just be incredible. That’s something I never imaged and I feel like it’s just arm’s length. That is what I’m striving for, but at the end of the day, long-term goal, I am fighting for the belt.”
The rest of the main card:
170 lbs.: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov
155 lbs.: Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva
170 lbs.: Gabriel Bonfim vs. Ange Loosa
145 lbs.: Julian Erosa vs. Christian Rodriguez
185 lbs.: Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Cody Brundage
ESPN+ Prelims:
125 lbs.: Charles Johnson vs. Joshua Van
125 lbs.: Fatima Kline vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
135 lbs.: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Montel Jackson
125 lbs.: Luana Santos vs. Mariya Agapova
185 lbs.: Josh Fremd vs. Andre Petroski
170 lbs.: Evan Elder vs. Darrius Flowers
