Rose Namajunas and Tracy Cortez at the UFC Denver weigh-in. Photo Credit: Youtube/UFC
Rose Namajunas had signed to face Maycee Barber in the main event of UFC Denver, but by the time Saturday’s card rolled around, the former women’s strawweight champion and current flyweight contender was facing Tracy Cortez instead.
These kinds of things happen all the time in MMA, and the question is whether Cortez can take the momentum off No. 6-ranked Namajunas in a fight at steep altitude.
Both fighters started off with low kicks. Rose had a slight preference for calf kicks. Cortez stood in the center, and Rose circled her with good lateral movement. She was clearly the faster fighter. She also landed some powerful punches, and took Cortez down with a left hook! Once Cortez was down, “Thug” Rose got on top, and Cortez closed her guard and hung on. Namajunas would have been better off letting Cortez stand, but she ended up doing just that, stepping back and letting her opponent stand.
But Cortez seemed to recover. She closed the distance with some punches, Namajunas landed some more jabs, Cortez fought back, but the important thing was that Cortez survived the round.
The second round started off as a brawl, but the pace slowed a bit and there was a lull, which seemed to favor Tracy Cortez over Rose. They got close and after a bit of grappling and scrambling, Cortez climbed onto Namajunas’ back, but was too high and fell off the top. Cortez got to her feet and hung on for a guillotine, but Rose escaped. Late in the round, Namajunas scored a takedown just before the buzzer sounded.
The third round began with an early clinch, with strikes being traded before Namajunas scored a takedown with 4:30 remaining. The former champion quickly got into mount position and tried to wear down Cortez, but Cortez shook her off and scrambled her back to the fence, where she got to her feet only to be taken down again shortly after.
This time, Rose again moved to mount. Cortez nearly gave up her back but was dissuaded. Namajunas went for mount but was attached to the fence and Cortez was able to push her off, giving up her back in the process. Namajunas got a hook and was closer to the cage so she went for three-quarter mount instead of taking the full back. Though she wasn’t able to grab the finish, “Thug” Rose clearly won the round.
In the fourth round, the two clinched early. Cortez managed to stay standing, throwing punches after the break. They returned to the same position later in the round, but Cortez again stayed standing. The problem, at least for Cortez, was that Namajunas was faster and more accurate standing. The knockdown in the first round was big, but Namajunas focused on accuracy and distance over power. And while her punch volume wasn’t as explosive, it was bigger than Cortez’s in the fourth round. A short takedown by Cortez near the end of the bout was ineffective, and Namajunas quickly got back to her feet.
Cortez’s corner implored her to finish the fight by submission or knockout heading into the fifth and final round of Saturday’s UFC Denver main event. In contrast, Namajunas’ team told Rose to “keep working” by “shadow boxing for five more minutes.” With a clear lead, Rose had no sense of urgency for a finish. Cortez, meanwhile, closed the distance with her punches and put some force into her attacks.
As the rounds went on, Cortez put pressure on Namajunas, landing some strikes here and there but not enough to land the finish. A final clinch allowed Cortez to run out the clock, and the bout went to the scorecards, seemingly a foregone conclusion for Namajunas to pick up her second UFC flyweight victory.
Official result: Rose Namajunas defeats Tracy Cortez via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
