Tracy Cortez ‘Prioritizing Mental Health’ After Exit from UFC Orlando Card

Tracy Cortez has been working on getting her mind right, and for the time being, that’s put her mixed martial arts career on hold.

The UFC flyweight shed some light on what led to a last-minute withdrawal from a proposed clash against Amanda Ribas one day before their Dec. 3 bout in Orlando. The promotion’s statement cited a “medical issue,” but according to Cortez, it’s a little more complex than that.

“I want to say I haven’t been in the right head space since sometime in August,” Cortez wrote on Instagram. “Life has been testing me under circumstances that I least expected. I’m currently healing, I’m prioritizing my mental health [and] just taking life a day at a time.”

The 29-year-old Phoenix native has emerged as an intriuging talent since earning a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, winning her first four bouts within the Las Vegas-based promotion. In her lone appearance of 2022, Cortez defeated Melissa Gatto via unanimous decision at UFC 274 on May 7. For now, the Fight Ready product isn’t sure exactly when she’ll make her return to the Octagon.

“I keep getting asked when I’m going to be scheduled for another fight [and] in all honestly I don’t know, BUT I will be back, strong, better [and] with a purpose far greater then I’ve ever had before!!!!” she wrote. “I don’t quit. I’ve never been one to give up. I’m a fighter. I’m a warrior! I’ve been fighting with battles [and] life since I could remember [and] this is just another stage in life that I will come out victorious in. I don’t sit [and] wait for the storm to pass, I walk through it with my head high! “For anyone struggling with life right now, don’t quit,” she continued. “Take life a day at a time. Believe that everything happens for a reason, although we may not understand it right now or ever. Don’t lose hope.”

Cortez further addressed the situation on her Instagram Stories.

I went through my camp extremely depressed,” she said. “Despite how my mental state was, I still gave it 110% … Getting pulled out [of the fight] the way that I did hurt me. It broke me because we give everything that we possibly can and we leave it all, every ounce of us in every session,” Cortez said. “I feel like training camp takes a toll on me and I think every fighter can to a certain level relate spiritually, physically obviously, mentally, it takes a toll on us. I gave it all I had and not fighting has kind of left me a little lost.

“But I’m OK, I’m keeping myself healthy and making my mental state, my state of my mind, my mental health, I’m making it a priority.”

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