Henry Cejudo recently weighed in on his teammate Tracy Cortez’s defeat against Rose Namajunas, suggesting that she had the potential to perform much better.
Last Saturday night, Cortez gave it her all but fell short on the judges’ scorecards, enduring her first UFC defeat in a grueling five-round battle against “Thug Rose,” who won by unanimous decision.
Cortez was originally gearing up for a bout against Miranda Maverick at UFC Vegas 94 on July 20. However, when Maycee Barber had to withdraw from the UFC Fight Night Denver main event due to undisclosed reasons, Cortez stepped up, accepting the short-notice challenge with just two weeks to prepare.
Despite the limited preparation time, the 30-year-old Arizona native went toe-to-toe for the full 25 minutes against the former two-time strawweight champion. However, her teammate at Fight Ready gym, Cejudo, believes that Cortez could have delivered a much stronger performance with a different game plan…
Cejudo Believes Cortez Misinterpreted Namajunas’ Strategy
During a recent Pound 4 Pound podcast episode with former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, “Triple C” dissected Cortez’s performance against Namajunas. He noted that “Thug Rose” effectively utilized her lateral movements and found better striking angles with well-timed takedowns, ultimately securing her victory over his teammate.
“Rose was able to use her lateral movements, pick her shots, and then eventually bring in takedowns, which kind of surprised me,” Cejudo said. “But I’m not surprised with her because she did the same thing to Weili [Zhang] towards the end of the round to secure the rounds.”
Cejudo further critiqued that Cortez lacked mindfulness throughout the fight and failed to capitalize on key takedown opportunities, a misstep that decisively cost her the bout.
“Tracy didn’t show up, man. I just don’t know how to say it; man, that’s not the Tracy that we know. I watched the fight again, and she never once attempted the takedowns; after she attempted one takedown, that’s it, there’s no level changes involved. I talked to her on Saturday afterward and just said, ‘Hey, just keep your head up, dude. It was an experience, but I just know you’re better than that, Tracy’.”
Cortez began the bout stronger, aiming to counter Namajunas’ speed and striking skills. Although she secured an early takedown, Cortez frequently found herself on the receiving end, being taken down multiple times by her opponent throughout the fight.
