UFC women’s flyweight star Tracy Cortez‘s father was a traditional type of man, who believed in traditional gender roles. But, Cortez, who grew up with three brothers had different plans. A self-proclaimed tomboy, her first coach, Angel Cejudo would recount how she was tough from the very beginning, getting into fights with boys and even making them cry.

It’s her toughness and commendable spirit that has allowed Cortez to have unabated success in the world’s toughest, most competitive combat sports promotion. Having suffered only one loss in her professional MMA career, on her debut in 2013, she joined the UFC in 2019 and is undefeated there so far. In this article, we take a closer look at her family and fighting background to understand why the 30-year-old chose to embark on the tough road of professional mixed martial arts.

Tracy Cortez’s ethnicity and nationality

Tracy Cortez was born to Mexican parents in Phoenix Arizona. She is an American national and is of Hispanic ethnicity as both her parents were Mexicans. She grew up with three brothers, which her coach Angel Cejudo ascribes as the reason behind her toughness. It was because of her brothers, who were wrestlers, that she got interested in martial arts.

Cortez’s older brother, Jose, had dreamed of becoming a UFC fighter. He even had a fight with the former UFC  fighter Drew Flickett in 2008, which he managed to win via a split decision. It was this fight that got Cortez interested in MMA. Her brother, however, stopped competing after the Flickett fight as he was soon diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away in 2011.

Jose was friends with future Olympian and UFC champ Henry Cejudo and his older brother, Angel Cejudo, who helped Tracy fight through her depression and trained her. Two years later, she made her MMA debut. She would soon lose her mother too, but that would only make her more determined to become a mixed martial artist, in a tribute to her deceased loved ones.

“I want to get my hand raised in that cage and look up and say, ‘This for you guys’ because honestly, they believed in me so much more than to this day than I believe in myself. And that’s why I keep going because every time I want to stop, I hear my mom’s voice in the back of my head, what she would tell me in Spanish,” Cortez was quoted as saying by Cronkite News.

Along with the inspiration she draws from her late brother and mother, another important reason for Cortez’s professional success is her well-rounded fighting style.

What is Cortez’s fighting style?

Tracy Cortez’s fighting style is based upon grappling as she has a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. However, her ground game is nothing to scoff at. She has excellent defense, as she has managed to defend an impressive 60% of strikes thrown at her throughout her career, which, combined with her high work rate on the feet, makes her a formidable opponent.

After losing her fight on MMA debut, the Mexican-American went on a five-fight undefeated streak, which earned her a call-up to Dana White‘s Contender Series in 2019. She defeated Mariya Agapova via a unanimous decision at the Apex to earn a UFC contract, fulfilling her brother’s dream. And now she is on her way to try and win a UFC title, which, given the physical and mental endurance she has shown in her life so far, is not that difficult.