Rose Namajunas out-strikes, out-grapples Tracy Cortez to cruise to UFC Denver main event victory
Rose Namajunas continued to prove herself as a threat in the flyweight division with another all-around performance to beat Tracy Cortez in the UFC Denver main event.
It was another impressive showing for the former strawweight as she largely dominated the striking and grappling exchanges throughout the fight. Namajunas’ best moment came early in the fight when she dropped Cortez to the canvas in the opening round, but she wasn’t able to get the finish and didn’t find another opening like that for the remainder of the fight.
Still, Namajunas showed off all of her skills with the judges giving her the unanimous decision win with the scorecards reading 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in her favor.
“I knew she was going to be really tough,” Namajunas said about Cortez. “I think I should have maybe just let her up [after the knockdown] but she was good at getting her guard. I knew her wrestling was really good. I was hesitant to wrestle too much but I just kept feeling successful there. I just kept going to it.”
Speed was the difference for Namajunas at the start of the fight as she kept launching straight punches at Cortez, who wasn’t employing much head movement in her defense. A stiff jab kept paying off with Namajunas just picking and choosing her shots until she threw that same punch followed by a hook behind it that sat Cortez down to the ground in the opening round.
Namajunas followed her to the canvas, but when she knew the finish wasn’t going to happen, the two-time strawweight champion immediately got back to her feet again.
On the restart in the second round, Cortez finally found a bit more rhythm with her striking, which also allowed her to set up a takedown attempt but she lost position rather quickly as the fighters got back up again. While Namajunas wasn’t quite as effective with her hands, she still connected with the better combinations and even managed a slick takedown of her own.
Namajunas continued to turn to her grappling to show her superiority over Cortez in every facet of the game. She maintained control, advancing to mount and then taking the back when Cortez tried to scramble free. However, from there, Namajunas wasn’t able to do much damage or snatch a submission. Still, Namajunas widened the gap in what was becoming a demoralizing night for Cortez.
As the fight moved into the final two rounds, Namajunas picked her moments by either standing on the outside and launching long-distance attacks or continuously threatening with the takedown. Even in the moments when Cortez got off first in the striking exchanges, she kept coming up just short with her punches.
Despite urging from her corner to go for broke, Cortez couldn’t put together enough damage to hurt Namajunas, who kept circling away with fast footwork and solid defense until the final horn sounded.
Overall, Namajunas has continued to acclimate herself to a new division with two straight main event wins at flyweight as she continues to work her way up the rankings. As a former UFC champion, Namajunas would obviously love to add another title to her collection … even if perhaps it’s a new belt the UFC creates for the women.
“Give me the belt, I want it,” Namajunas said. “Maybe a women’s ‘BMF,’ I don’t know.”