Tracy Cortez opens up about debilitating medical setbacks which kept her out of active UFC competition for over a year

Tracy Cortez at Noche UFC [Left], and Tracy Cortez on The MMA Hour [Right] [Photo credit: @TracyCortezmma - X, and MMAFightingonSBN - YouTube]
Tracy Cortez at Noche UFC [Left], and Tracy Cortez on The MMA Hour [Right] [Photo credit: @TracyCortezmma - X, and MMAFightingonSBN - YouTube]

Tracy Cortez opened up about the debilitating medical setbacks that kept her from actively competing in the octagon for over a year.

During her appearance on The MMA Hour, the 29-year-old shared her thoughts on her return this past Saturday at Noche UFC, where she earned a unanimous decision win over Jasmine Jasudavicius and her lengthy layoff. She mentioned that a slew of injuries were the major factors behind her inactivity.

She said:

"Life got in the way. I tore my pec really bad early in the year and then as it was getting better...end of March, I had surgery on my hand. After I had surgery on my hand, I started running a lot, tore my MCL. So it was just little injuries here and there."

Tracy Cortez also brought up that she spent some time training with both Patricio and Patricky 'Pitbull' Freire at their gym in Brazil. She mentioned that after returning from Brazil, she notified her team and manager that she was ready to return to the octagon, saying:

"The entire team [in Brazil] was just so welcoming. [I] came back, applied everything that I learned, I texted my coaches, I text my manager, I said, 'Hey, give me a fight. I'm ready, I'm healed, I feel good.' At the time, my hand was still hurting a little bit to punch because of the surgery but after that I was good to go.'"

It will be interesting to see who the UFC matches Tracy Cortez up with next as she extended her winning streak to 11 straight wins and has been unbeaten since joining the promotion.

Tweet regarding the comments made on The MMA Hour
Tweet regarding the comments made on The MMA Hour

Tracy Cortez reveals she followed Henry Cejudo's advice about training in Brazil

Tracy Cortez shared some advice that Henry Cejudo gave her about her growth as a fighter and how she can improve.

Speaking to The MMA Hour, she noted that the former two-division UFC champion suggested she experience training with other camps in order to learn new skills. His advice led to her doing just that by traveling to Brazil and training with the 'Pitbull' brothers at their gym and learned a great deal, saying:

"A lot of what I learned stand up-wise was there [in Brazil]. I really got my confidence out there...and being able to apply it here and just be consistent and continue applying it every single day from when I came back up to my fight, I think was key."
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