Las Vegas, NV — Arizona-based flyweight Tracy Cortez (10-1) is undefeated in her UFC career, but despite that, the Noche UFC star wasn’t looking to rest on her laurels ahead of her fight with Jasmine Jasudavicius.
Instead, she opted to head to Brazil over the past year, working with Bellator MMA’s Pitbull Brothers to hone her stand-up game.
“I’ve been working on everything. Mostly I want to say just sharpening up my wrestling, keeping it sharp. My striking, I’ve been working on my striking a lot,” Cortez said during an Athlete Panel ahead of Saturday’s Noche UFC, with Cageside Press on hand.
To work on that striking, “I went over to Brazil for a while, trained with the Pitbull brothers. I just grew. Got out of my comfort zone. I wanted to evolve not just as a person but as an athlete. I just felt like it was time. I’ve been really trying to evolve overall.”
As to how the opportunity came about, “I’ve known Patricio [Pitbull] for quite a time now. When he does come to Fight Ready, he’s such a good teacher, he’s always giving me new tools to work and to practice so I can get better,” explained Cortez, who trains at Fight Ready in Arizona. “It kind of just hit me where I was ready to try something new, get out of my element. I shot him a message, and he told me, he said ‘come on by.’ So I went over to Brazil, stayed over there for a while, came back, told my coaches ‘hey, I’m ready to come back, now it’s time.'”
Opponent Jasudavicius has shown some strong wrestling skills through her four UFC fights to date, and recently picked up a win over a solid wrestler in Miranda Maverick. Asked how her wrestling compares to her opponent’s, Cortez said that “I’m very confident in my wrestling, I’m very confident on my ground. I believe it’s pretty difficult to take me down and if you do, it’s going to be difficult to keep me down. But it’s going to be a good fight.”
Watch the full Noche UFC athlete panel including Tracy Cortez, Alexa Grasso and more above.
