Tracy Cortez reflects on UFC 329 loss: 'Growth isn’t pretty'
· Yahoo Sports
Tracy Cortez made some big changes in her fighting career. Unfortunately, although they didn't pay off in the cage, it doesn't mean they were done in vain.
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Cortez (12-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC), a veteran of the UFC women's flyweight division, fell short in her return to the cage at Saturday's UFC 329 in Las Vegas. The Mexican-American lost a unanimous decision to China's Wang Cong (10-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the preliminary card of the event. In the lead-up to the fight, Cortez had left her home in Arizona and her long-time gym, Fight Ready, to live in Mexico City and train at the UFC Performance Institute, looking to further her MMA game.
Cortez believes the sacrifice and improvements were there, and that's what keeps her at peace despite not getting the win. She opened up about her defeat in a lengthy post on Instagram on Tuesday.
"Some days you’ll win, some days you’ll lose. But that’s the price of ambition! Transformation, expanding into your potential, is painful. You have to tear down the walls of comfort, break the chains of what holds you back and bet on yourself. It’s brutal. It’s violent. But it’s fucking glorious, and it’s worth it ✨Because on the other side of that death of the old you... is who you could be.You think becoming your best self will feel powerful. It won’t. It’ll feel like dying!
Growth isn’t pretty. It’s not smooth. It’s a constant breakdown. It’s the death of your old self, on repeat..Just when you think you’ve gotten to where you want to be, you realise you still have so much further to go.You’ll feel lost. You’ll question everything. Growth rarely feels graceful while it’s happening.It feels like confusion. It feels like loss. It feels like the ground is shifting under your feet!! Every lesson stretched your capacity. Every fracture widened your heart. Every time you chose to keep going, something stronger in you took shape.So, stop labeling your story as good or bad. It was necessary. It was forming you.
I’m choosing to trust the unfolding. To trust the timing.
I’m learning life is not happening against me. It is happening for me & im becoming exactly who I’m meant to be ❤️🔥
Grateful for this journey, to share the octagon with such a talented & down to earth person like Wang!
Grateful for the highs & lows this sport brings!Grateful God has never let me go not just in this journey but in life 🤍
Grateful for the heart he’s blessed me with❤️🔥jeremiah 29:11
All Glory to my Lord & savior, Jesus Christ ✨"
Not long ago, Cortez was undefeated in the UFC with five consecutive wins. In 2024, she took her first UFC loss in a short-notice bout against Rose Namajunas. She bounced back with a win over Viviane Araujo in 2025, but then dropped two bouts, losing to Erin Blanchfield and now Cong. This UFC 329 result puts her on a two-fight losing streak and 1-3 in her past four bouts.
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