How a brother's battle with cancer fuels a professional fighter's drive
In short: For mixed martial artist Tracy Cortez, the physical demands of the UFC are manageable compared to the tragedy that shaped her. After watching her brother fight a terminal illness, the Phoenix-born athlete transformed her grief into a relentless competitive motivator.
Tracy Cortez, a professional mixed martial artist in the UFC's women's flyweight division, draws profound motivation from her family history. Growing up in a household of Mexican immigrants in Phoenix, Arizona, Cortez witnessed her oldest brother, Jose Cortez, battle cardiovascular problems and germ cell cancer. Jose had aspired to reach the UFC himself, and his victory against former veteran Drew Fickett in November 2008 served as an early inspiration for Tracy.
The loss of Jose in 2011 left Cortez struggling with depression, a period she navigated with support from her family and close friends of her brother, Henry and Angel Cejudo. To honor his memory, she carries a tattoo of him on her arm. This personal history serves as her psychological anchor during competition; she has noted that when fatigue or doubt arises, she remembers her brother's fight against cancer to remind herself of her own capability.
Cortez's professional trajectory includes an amateur record of 3–0 before moving through Invicta Fighting Championships to the UFC. Her career has been marked by both significant victories and technical hurdles, such as a 2019 bout where a scale error by the Brazilian athletic commission (CABMMA) prevented a fine for missing weight. As of July 11, 2026, she holds the #10 spot in the Meta UFC women's flyweight rankings, following a competitive career that includes a rematch against Erin Blanchfield in late 2025.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Tracy Cortez
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