UFC fighter Tracy Cortez took an unusual approach when trying to make weight on Friday. After her attempts to drop a pound before the weigh-in were unsuccessful, she resorted to scissors.
After struggling at the weigh-in on Friday for Saturday’s fight against Rose Namajunas, the 30-year-old flyweight cut off a lock of her hair to lose the last half-pound. Cortez’s impromptu haircut gave her the push she needed to make weight at 126 pounds.
Cortez, who had originally weighed 127 and then 126.5 pounds, cried when she managed to make weight. Desperate to lose weight, Cortez told her backstage team to just “cut the weight,” according to Nolan King of USA Today.
As a result, Cortez emerged from the fight unscathed and with a stylish new long haircut.
Cortez and Namajunas will now meet, as planned, in the main event of the UFC’s Fight Night card on Saturday. The event was originally supposed to feature Namajunas against Maycee Barber, but Cortez replaced her after Barber pulled out in June due to a series of health issues.
Cortez and Namajunas have not faced each other before. Cortez is 11-1-0 since joining the UFC in 2019, while Namajunas is 13-6-0 in 11 years as a pro. Cortez’s only other fight this year, a bout against Miranda Maverick, was canceled; Namajunas won her last fight, against Amanda Ribas, by unanimous decision in March.
