R. Namajunas beat T. Cortez at UFC Denver (Photo: Twitter/@ufcnews)
Former strawweight champion (up to 52,2kg), Rose namajunas continues firmly towards his dream of a second belt. In the main fight of UFC Denver, held this Saturday (13), 'Thug' delivered a safe and strategic performance and won the promise Tracy Cortez in the unanimous decision of the judges.
Number six in the flyweight rankings (up to 56,7kg), Rose should get a place in the top-5 of the category led by Alex Grasso and is approaching a new opportunity to fight for the Ultimate belt.
Eleventh placed, Tracy Cortez suffers his first defeat in six fights wearing Ultimate gloves and sees his rise being halted by the organization's former champion
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The confrontation began with the two fighters studying each other hard and exchanging blows without much force in the center of the cage. Cortez was looking to close the distance to use grappling, his specialty. However, Rose showed her traditional striking efficiency and managed to keep her rival at bay efficiently.
In the following two partials, Rose surprised by using Tracy's 'poison' against her and adopting grappling as a strategy, stopping her rival on the ground and using ground and pound. With two minutes left in the third half, Tracy turned her back on the former champion and was almost finished, having to resort to a complicated transition to escape the attempt.
Immediately after the start of the fourth round, Cortez tried to explode on top of Namajunas, who quickly fought the fight in the clinch and rejected her rival's attacks. With intelligence, Namajunas saw her opponent close the distance and quickly got into Tracy's legs, managing to keep her pinned to the ground for a few seconds.
Cortez started the fifth and final round intensely, working on combinations and stopping the former champion against the fence. The two athletes returned to the center of the cage to exchange blows, however, to stop their rival's momentum, it was Namajunas' turn to use the 'anti-game' and fight the duel in a grappling fight. Tracy continued with a good rhythm of strikes, however, she was once again nullified by 'Thug'. The gong then sounded, declaring the end of the fight.
UFC Denver results
MAIN CARD (23pm Brasília time)
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Rose namajunas derrotou Tracy Cortez in the unanimous decision of the judges (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): muslim salikhov derrotou Santiago Ponzinibbio in the judges' split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Jean Silva derrotou Drew dober by technical knockout at 1:28 of R3
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Gabriel Marretinha derrotou Ange Loosa in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): julian erosa derrotou Christian rodriguez by submission at 4m49s of R1
Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Abdul Razak Alhassan x Cody Brundage ended in no-contest at 37s of R1
PRELIMINARY CARD (20pm Brasília time)
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Charles Johnson derrotou Joshua Van by knockout (punch) 20s from R3
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Jasmine Jasudavicius derrotou Fatima Kline in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bantam weight (up to 61,2 kg): Montel Jackson defeated Da'Mon Blackshear by knockout (punch) 18 seconds into R1
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Luana Santos derrotou Maria Agapova via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3min27s of R1
Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Andre Petroski derrotou Josh Fremd in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Evan Elder defeated Darrius Flowers via submission (katagatame) at 1min46s of R2
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