The main event for UFC Fight Night Denver was almost in jeopardy on Friday night.
However, Tracy Cortez, a late replacement for Maycee Barber, battled through a tough weight cut to make the featured bout against Rose Namajunas official–but she had to make a sacrifice. Cortez missed the 126-pound maximum on her first attempt.
Determined not to be denied, an emotional Cortez returned to the scales after cutting a good chunk of her hair to make 126 pounds successfully.
Cortez took what might become an iconic photo, holding the clump of clipped locks in her right hand while standing on the scale and pointing to the heavens with her left.
The hair-cutting option is not unprecedented. I was at a weigh-in for a Professional Fighters League event in 2023 when Jesus Pineda shaved his head bald to make weight for one of the promotion’s playoff bouts.
Like Pineda, Cortez didn’t want her big opportunity to fade away. She stepped in on short notice to take on Namajunas, and if she had been unable to compete or forced to sacrifice a portion of her purse, it would have dimmed or completely nullified the massive opportunity.
According to CBS Sports, Cortez is coming into the fight as a +180 underdog. But if she manages to pull off the upset of a future Hall-of-Famer, Cortez’s sacrifice and triumph is going to be immortalized in the image she took holding the hair she let go to make weight.
Don’t expect Namajunas to be too sensitive to Cortez’s sacrifice. After all, the former two-time UFC strawweight champion has gone from this look below…
To this look…
To where she is now during her storied career in the UFC.
Namajunas was a bit bummed about not getting a chance to “show [Barber] what’s up,” so Cortez stands to be the recipient of that transfer of energy.
Here is a look at all of the weigh-in results for the event and the how-to-watch information.
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)
- Women’s Flyweight: Rose Namajunas (124.75) vs. Tracy Cortez (126)
- Welterweight: Santiago Ponzinibbio (171) vs. Muslim Salikhov (171)
- Lightweight: Drew Dober (155) vs. Jean Silva (155)
- Welterweight: Gabriel Bonfim (171) vs. Ange Loosa (170)
- Featherweight: Julian Erosa (145.5) vs. Christian Rodriguez (145.5)
- Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan (185) vs. Cody Brundage (185.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
- Flyweight: Charles Johnson (125.5) vs. Joshua Van (125)
- Flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius (125) vs. Fatima Kline (125)
- Bantamweight: Da’Mon Blackshear (135.5) vs. Montel Jackson (135)
- Flyweight: Mariya Agapova (125) vs. Luana Santos (125)
- Middleweight: Josh Fremd (186) vs. Andre Petroski (185.5)
- Welterweight: Evan Elder (170) vs. Darrius Flowers (170)
