Rose Namajunas signed on for a UFC Denver main event fight with Maycee Barber, but by the time the card rolled around on Saturday, the former women’s strawweight champion, now a flyweight contender, was instead facing Tracy Cortez.
These things happen in MMA, and happen often. The question was, on short notice and fighting at altitude, could Cortez steal the thunder of the #6-ranked Namajnuas?
Both ladies opened up the action throwing low kicks. Rose had a little more behind her calf kicks. Cortez stood at center, Rose circling around her with some solid lateral movement. She was clearly the quicker fighter. Turns out, she also packed a powerful punch, dropping Cortez with a left hook! Cortez went down, “Thug” Rose got on top, and Cortez closed her guard, just hanging on. Namajunas might have been better off forcing Cortez to stay standing, and eventually she did just that, backing off and letting her opponent up.
Cortez, however, appeared to have recovered. She closed the distance firing punches, Namajunas landed another jab, and Cortez returned fire. Key, however, was that Cortez survived the round.
Round two started scrappy, but gave way to a lull as the pace slowed a tick. That likely benefitted Tracy Cortez more than Rose. When they came together, a bit of grappling and scrambling saw Cortez scale the back of Namajunas, but she was too high up, and fell off the top. As Cortez came back up, she latched on with a guillotine, but Rose escaped. Late in the frame, Namajunas would land a takedown, just ahead of the buzzer.
An early clinch opened round three with blows traded before Namajunas landed a takedown, with 4:30 still on the clock. The former champ went almost immediately into mount, looking to soften up Cortez. But Cortez bucked her off, scrambled, got her back to the fence and got back to her feet- only to be taken right back down again.
This time, Rose again moved to mount. Cortez nearly gave up her back, then thought better of it. Namajunas mounted, but was tight along the fence, with Cortez able to push off it. Only to give up her back in the process. Namajunas got a hook in, and had a three-quarter mount rather than fully taking the back, due to being in close against the cage. She couldn’t find a finish, but “Thug” Rose clearly took the round.
Round four saw the pair clinch up early. Cortez managed to stay standing, firing punches off the break. They’d head back to that position later in the frame, but again, Cortez kept the fight standing. The problem, for Cortez at least, was that Namajunas was the quicker, more accurate fighter on the feet. The knockdown in round one had been big, but Namajunas was focused on accuracy, and range, more than power. And her volume, while not torrential, was still more significant than Cortez in round four. In the dying seconds, Cortez landed a brief takedown, but nothing came of it and Namajunas was right back up.
Cortez’s corner implored her to find a finish, either a submission or knockout, heading into the fifth and final round of Saturday’s UFC Denver main event. In stark contrast, Namasjunas’ team told her that it was “shadowboxing” for five more minutes, and to “keep the drill going.” Clearly ahead, the urgency for Rose to finish just wasn’t there. Cortez, meanwhile, closed the distance punches, putting a little more weight behind her attacks.
As the round progressed, Cortez hunted Namajunas, landing here and there, unable to do enough to set up a finish. A final clinch, and Cortez was out of time, the fight heading to the scorecards for what seemed like a forgone conclusion, that Namajunas had her second win in the UFC‘s flyweight division.
Official Result: Rose Namajunas def. Tracy Cortez by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
