Tracy Cortez seems excited about her upcoming fight this weekend. Battling against two-time champion Rose Namajunas in her sixth UFC fight, this Saturday will also mark her first-ever main event in the UFC. Undefeated in Dana White‘s promotion, Cortez has quite the journey, given that she had to go through one of the toughest phases of her life with her brother’s passing.

Tracy Cortez is from a family of three brothers, Jose, Abraham Cortez, and J.R. Cortez. Her brothers were supportive of her quest to become a UFC fighter, and guess what? It was her eldest brother Jose’s dream to become a UFC fighter. However, tragedy hit her brother, leaving the Cortez family in a deep state of sorrow.

Tracy Cortez’s brother Jose: How did he pass away?

Setting up life’s goals can be tough, but for Tracy Cortez, it wasn’t that hard. Her brother Jose’s dream to become a UFC fighter was legit, and he even has a win over the retired MMA veteran Drew Fickett, who competed under the UFC banner from 2005 to 2007. His enthusiasm for the sport was so infectious that Tracy decided to make it her goal to become a UFC fighter, which she did with a rather impressive record.

A tragedy, however, put an end to not just Tracy Cortez’s brother’s UFC dream, but his life as well. Jose Cortez was diagnosed with germ-cell cancer in 2008. He battled his illness for a few more years before sadly passing away in 2011. That took a heavy toll on Tracy, who went through a period of emotional distress. However, the dream was her only way to keep her brother’s spirit alive as she’s recently emerged as one of the surging contenders in her division.

“In your honor, I worked and busted my a** to make your dream come true brother… In the midst of this crazy journey, I started seeing myself becoming the best in the world, your dream became mine,” Tracy Cortez wrote for her brother on social media after she fulfilled his UFC dream. But did you know she has another way of remembering Jose?

Tracy Cortez has a special tattoo for her late brother

The bond between Tracy and Jose Cortez was perhaps second to none. To keep her brother always with her as she embarked on the journey that he had always wished to be on, Tracy Cortez permanently inked her brother on her left arm. The tattoo had her brother wearing a UFC T-shirt, signifying his dream, which was to become a top MMA fighter at the grandest platform in the sport. Cortez opened up about her tattoo in an interview as well.

“It’s [the person in the tattoo] actually my big brother. He was going through cancer. That’s his cancer bracelet [points it out]. This was his last vacation,” Tracy Cortez revealed back in 2018 when she wasn’t even in the UFC. While the dream to get to the UFC is done, there is still another dream that all fighters have, which is to become world champion, something that we are yet to find out in the case of Cortez.

What do you think about Tracy Cortez’s admiration for her late brother, Jose? Let us know in the comments below.