Tracy Cortez believes her rivalry with Erin Blanchfield is far from over. With each fighter owning one win over the other, the UFC flyweight contender expects a third meeting to happen in the future.
Before thinking about that, Cortez is focused on getting back into the win column when she faces Wong Cong at UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
Cortez believes her rivalry with Blanchfield is far from over
Tracy Cortez believes her rivalry with Erin Blanchfield still has another chapter to be written. Blanchfield leveled the score last November at UFC 322, submitting Cortez to erase the memory of her split-decision defeat in their first meeting under the Invicta FC banner in 2019.
With each fighter holding one victory, Cortez expects the competitive feud to continue. Cortez told MMA Junkie that she is confident the trilogy bout will eventually happen.
“We have to, 100 percent,”
“I definitely want that. I want that rematch.”
Cortez admitted she made a costly mistake in their most recent meeting and believes the result could have been different had she followed the original game plan.
“Honestly, my last fight, it’s one of those things where, all respect to Blanchfield, she won fair and square, but it was one of those things where I made a mistake.”
Confident despite recent setbacks
Cortez enters UFC 329 looking to snap a two-loss stretch in her last three fights, with defeats coming against former champion Rose Namajunas and Blanchfield.
Despite the recent results, she believes her overall game continues to improve, particularly her striking after training in Brazil and Mexico.
“I’ve gone to Brazil and mainly focused on that with the ‘Pitull’ Brothers. I came and trained extremely hard on my striking. My wrestling is there. My grappling is there.”