Rose Namajunas is a bonafide flyweight contender. The previous UFC girls’s strawweight champion makes her third look at 125 kilos when she takes on streaking contender Tracy Cortez in her dwelling base of Denver in the primary occasion of UFC Battle Night time on Saturday.
Namajunas (13-6) earned her No. 6 rating within the UFC’s official girls’s flyweight High 15 by defeating Amanda Ribas in her second flyweight look. It was a step in the appropriate path after shedding to Manon Fiorot — who appears to solely be behind Valentina Shevchenko within the title queue — in Namajunas’ flyweight debut. Namajunas beforehand educated alongside Kamaru Usman and Justin Gaethje beneath the steering of coach Trevor Wittman in Denver. Namajunas will get a uncommon dwelling sport in her metropolis.
“A win is a win. You know the way the UFC works, you are solely related when you’re successful, or clearly when you do one thing particular,” Namajunas instructed reporters at Thursday’s media day. “That is positively excessive on my precedence record: primary is to guard myself always, however quantity two is to win, after which quantity three is to be spectacular and carry out and be me, and do what I do finest.”
Cortez (11-1) unexpectedly finds herself within the greatest struggle of her profession. Cortez changed Maycee Barber on brief discover, preventing a former champion in a five-round most important occasion. Cortez is an fascinating presence within the girls’s flyweight division. She’s on a formidable 11-fight successful streak however has struggled with exercise within the final 4 years. Almost each struggle has gone to a call however her on-line presence generates respectable fanfare. Preventing somebody of Namajunas’ ilk on a good turnaround will not be supreme, however a Cortez victory will meaningfully speed up her profession.
“She’s a veteran. This is not her first rodeo so I do know she’s mentally conscious of what is to come back,” Cortez stated. “However she hasn’t fought a 125er like myself. She hasn’t fought somebody like me at this weight division. Simply as unprepared as I’m, she is as nicely.
“I will be 6-0 within the UFC with a 12-1 professional document. Though I have not been as lively, I feel I deserve [a title shot]. If not, I am not too anxious about what’s subsequent.”
Probably the most fascinating struggle on Saturday’s card is the light-weight tilt between Drew Dober and Jean Silva. The fighters have 32 mixed finishes and critical appetites for violence. Dober is coming off a call loss to Renato Moicano however his 5 prior fights ended by way of knockout. Madman Silva makes a two-week turnaround, filling in for Mike Davis, after defeating Charles Jourdain by way of second-round KO at UFC 303 on June 29.
Beneath is the remainder of the struggle card for Saturday with the most recent odds earlier than we get to a prediction and decide on the primary occasion.
UFC Battle Night time card, odds
| Rose Namajunas -210 | Tracy Cortez +175 | Ladies’s flyweight |
| Santiago Ponzinibbio -190 | Muslim Salikhov +160 | Welterweight |
| Drew Dober -115 | Jean Silva -105 | Light-weight |
| Gabriel Bonfim -360 | Ange Loosa +280 | Welterweight |
| Christian Rodriguez -210 | Julian Erosa +175 | Featherweight |
| Abdul Razak Alhassan -170 | Cody Brundage +145 | Middleweight |
UFC Battle Night time viewing data
Date: July 13 |Â Begin time: 10 p.m. ET (most important card)
Location: Ball Enviornment — Denver
TV channel: ESPN | Stream: fuboTV (strive without spending a dime)
Prediction
Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez: Namajunas will not be an optimum flyweight and Cortez is best suited to the burden class than Ribas was. Cortez has statistical benefits in putting output, putting accuracy, constructive putting differential, takedown common and takedown protection. The stats establish Cortez’s environment friendly type nevertheless it’s essential to acknowledge that Namajunas has confronted much better opponents. Cortez should overcome two main hurdles: Namajunas’ expertise towards high quality foes and five-round experience. Namajunas has locked up a number of instances with Zhang Weili, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade and Carla Esparza, and has ready for 9 five-round fights. Cortez’s finest win is arguably pre-UFC Erin Blanchfield and he or she’s by no means fought greater than three rounds.Â
Cortez should depend on her wrestling and measurement benefit to take rounds from Namajunas. The previous strawweight champion’s energy hasn’t translated to flyweight however she will be able to work behind her jab to take rounds. I am leaning in direction of Namajunas primarily resulting from Denver’s elevation. We have seen many fighters thwarted by their cardiovascular system’s incapacity to acclimate to Denver’s excessive altitude. Namajunas advantages from coaching often in that setting, Cortez’s brief turnaround — regardless of being scheduled for a struggle in Las Vegas one week later towards Miranda Maverick — and the struggle’s 25-minute time restrict. Namajunas by way of Unanimous Determination