Rose Namajunas showcased her striking and grappling skills to secure a unanimous decision victory over Tracy Cortez in the UFC Denver main event, continuing her successful transition to the flyweight division.
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. She largely dominated the striking and grappling exchanges throughout the fight.
Namajunas’ best moment came early when she dropped Cortez to the canvas in the opening round. However, 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. The judges gave her a unanimous decision win with 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,” Namajunas added. “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. 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 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 round one.
Namajunas followed her to the canvas. When she realized a finish wasn’t going to happen, she immediately got back on her feet again.
On restart in round two, Cortez found more rhythm with her striking. This allowed her to set up a takedown attempt but she lost position quickly as they got back up again.
While Namajunas wasn’t quite as effective with her hands, she still connected with better combinations and even managed a slick takedown of her own.
Namajunas turned to grappling to show superiority over Cortez in every facet of the game. She maintained control, advancing to mount and then taking back when Cortez tried scrambling free.
However, from there, Namajunas couldn’t do much damage or snatch a submission. Still, she widened the gap in what became a demoralizing night for Cortez.
As they moved into final rounds, Namajunas picked moments by either standing on outside launching long-distance attacks or continuously threatening with takedowns.
Even when Cortez got off first in striking exchanges, she kept coming up short with punches.
Despite urging from corner to go for broke, Cortez couldn’t put together enough damage. Namajunas circled away with fast footwork and solid defense until final horn sounded.
Overall, Namajunas has continued acclimating herself to new division with two straight main event wins at flyweight as she works way up rankings.
As former UFC champion, she’d love adding another title … even if perhaps it’s new belt UFC creates for women.
“Give me belt; I want it,” said Namajunas. “Maybe women’s ‘BMF,’ I don’t know.”