Athletes
Tracy Cortez | My Time Is Now
Having Battled Her Way Into The Flyweight Top 10, Tracy Cortez Eyes A Statement Win At Madison Square Garden To Prove She’s Ready For A Title Shot.
Ever since her arrival via Dana White’s Contender Series, Tracy Cortez has been marked for stardom in the UFC. On Saturday night, she faces a familiar foe in a fight she believes could catapult her into championship contention.
Cortez takes on Erin Blanchfield in a battle between two top-10 flyweight contenders. With Cortez sitting eighth in the official flyweight list, four spots below Blanchfield in fourth, she sees Saturday night’s bout at VeChain UFC 322 as a watershed moment in her mixed martial arts career.
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“This is breaking (the) top five,” she smiled. “This competing for the number four, possibly the number three. So, call me crazy, but I think winning this one, I could be a title challenger.
“Even saying that, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it's definitely a dream come true. It's what I've worked so hard for, and I'm just extremely focused right now.”
A glance at Cortez’s UFC record shows a 6-1 slate with her only defeat coming against former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas after stepping in on just two weeks’ notice. But things have been far from straightforward for the 31-year-old, who has battled injuries and a health scare that took her away from competition for a year between the summers of 2024 and 2025.
After receiving a clean bill of health, Cortez returned to defeat Viviane Araujo to set up Saturday night’s bout with Blanchfield.
COMPLETE FIGHT WEEK GUIDE: VeChain UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev
“It’s been a journey,” Cortez admitted. “It's taken me a lot longer than I would have liked. But being here now and the road getting here, everything happens for a reason. All the setbacks, all the injuries, all the delays, everything happens for a reason, and it's got me to who I am now. I'm a woman that's extremely focused, extremely disciplined, extremely structured, and in my opinion, it's perfect timing.”
Cortez’s defeat to Namajunas may have put a mark in the loss column, but it told her a lot about her readiness to level up and challenge the very best in the world.
“It was extremely hard, but I did learn a lot,” she said. “I learned that I could compete at the high level, I could do five, 5-minute rounds. I think with any competitor, it's a little scary (to do) five fives. And knowing that I had the cardio and I was ready, and I could have even gone one more round. The experience, the pace, just the focus and discipline that it took to get there … I grew a lot.”
In a full-circle moment for both Cortez and her opponent, she’ll take on Blanchfield who she faced in all-female promotion Invicta FC back in 2019. Cortez’s split-decision victory that night earned her the shot on Dana White’s Contender Series that got her into the UFC. Two years later, Blanchfield joined her on the flyweight roster.
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Cortez has a ton of respect for Blanchfield’s career and admitted that their first meeting will carry very little relevance ahead of their upcoming rematch as both of them having evolved significantly over the past six and a half years.
“We were both very young, so I can't go based off of our last fight because I've grown so much, (and) she has as well,” she admitted. “She is number four for a reason, and I just know that when she's in there, she's a dog. That's one thing that hasn't changed – she has that dog in her. And I would say that's probably every opponent from here on out. They’re all going to bring it. They're all there. No one's going to back down, you know?
“So, this is a big fight. And although we have fought and we faced each other in the past, I'm not taking it lightly whatsoever. I just feel like we're both in very similar spots, where she's grown and she's very experienced now, as well as I am. Really, it's a fight. Anything could happen.”
Having battled issues away from the Octagon and opponents inside it, Cortez potentially finds herself one big performance away from being considered a bonafide championship contender at 125 pounds. Cortez says the best way to do that would be to score the first finish of her UFC career.
“I’m gonna go in there trying to finish the fight,” she said. “I’ve been really working hard on trying to finish fights, so that's my goal. Let's finish the fight.”
Victory for Cortez would delight her legion of fans, who have gravitated to her story, and her journey, as she has made her way up the flyweight rankings. Perhaps unsurprisingly for an athlete who fights with her heart on her sleeve, Cortez got a little emotional as she talked about the support she’s received from the fans throughout her career.
I’m getting chills just thinking about it!” she said. “I am in disbelief. sometimes at the support that the fans give me, I can't believe it. I don't want to get emotional!
“I don't know what I did to deserve it. But I'm so grateful, because I've been able to be myself, and with that alone, people have showed me so much love and support throughout the years, time after time. And being here in New York, where there's so many Latinos, I just know the crowd is going to be incredible. I’m very blessed for the fanbase that I have.”
When we asked Cortez if she had some advice for any young girls out there who take inspiration from her career, she welled up again as she gave a message from the heart to anyone battling things in their life.
“That advice, girl to girl, to a young Tracy, or to any young girl trying to chase a dream, would be that everything happens for a reason. The highs, the lows, it all molds you to the woman that you're meant to be and the woman that you're destined to become.
“So, don't let whatever you're going through bitter you. Don't let it discourage you. Take it as a lesson, learn from it, and keep going, because you have no idea what's to come.”
VeChain UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev took place live from Madison Square Garden Arena in New York, New York on November 15, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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