Las Vegas, NV – UFC flyweight Tracy Cortez completed an emotional comeback when she defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius at Noche UFC after a long layoff due to injury.
“I feel really good. I’m in good spirits. Happy to be here. Happy to come back and have that performance that I did,” Cortez told reporters including Cageside Press at her post-fight scrum.
“Show my evolution. How I’ve evolved and grown.”
There was a moment during the fight where both fighters stopped fighting and began to yell at each other with Cortez pointing at her hair insinuating that Jasudavicius had pulled it during a clinch situation.
“Yes! Yes! She wasn’t even holding my head, she was pulling my hair, and I’m looking at her like are you serious? And she follows it with a head kick, and I was like what the f*ck,” she said.
Jasudavicius yelled back at Cortez, but may have told on herself at the same time. Cortez revealed what was said in the moment.
“She said something like cussing me out and ‘I didn’t pull your hair!’. I was like I didn’t even say you pulled it! Like what? You know, but it’s ok,” Cortez said.
Cortez delivered a very emotional post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier following her victory. Reflecting on not only a very tough year but also some very devastating news that the flyweight received prior to the fight.
“This year’s been extremely rough on me. I’m really grateful for my team. Because of them I am where I’m at. They made sure that I’ve been on track every single day. Everybody. My friends, my family, everyone’s making sure that I came here with the right headspace,” she said.
“I was extremely emotional because…yesterday I got a call from, I’m going to say my family because I’ve known them my entire life, that someone really close to my heart had passed away. I had to just be very professional and just be disciplined and show up.”
The news that Gloria Cejudo, sister of former UFC champion Henry Cejudo, had passed away hit Cortez very hard. She dedicated her fight to her late friend.
“She was a big sister. She was a big sister. Cancer’s a nasty disease and I just want to honor her. I wanted to perform to the best that I can and I want to dedicate this fight to her,” said Cortez.
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Tracy Cortez above.
