TRACY CORTEZ was left with cuts and swelling on her face after being defeated by Erin Blanchfield at Madison Square Garden.
A slick early combo by Blanchfield cut Cortez just above her right eye.
And having already sustained plenty of damage, Cortez was submitted via rear naked choke in the second round by her No4-ranked flyweight contender opponent.
The 31-year-old is a fan favourite among the UFC faithful, but will have to go back to the drawing board following this setback.
Cortez had actually defeated Blanchfield in 2019 while part of former promotion Invicta.
The triumph was part of an 11-fight win streak, which was only ended by former champion Rose Namajunas in July 2024.
UFC 322
Edwards brutally KNOCKED OUT by Carlos Prates at UFC 322 and left in career limbo
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She bounced back with a unanimous decision victory against Viviane Araujo at UFC 317 in June.
But she now has two defeats in her last three after being stopped by Blanchfield in their rematch.
The Phoenix-born star took to social media after the fight, posting several pictures, including one featuring her bloodied face, to Instagram.
Cortez captioned the post: “I’ve gone through so much worse things in my life. I’m still here & I’m not going anywhere… respect to Blanchfield.”
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Viral bodybuilder Demi Bagby commented on the post, calling for a trilogy bout.
The 24-year-old wrote: “Both you girls did great!! Round 3 let’s go.”
Cortez’s fellow UFC fighter Patricky Pitbull added: “Will come back stronger.”
Prior to the fight, Cortez had claimed that she could be a title challenger with a victory.
Instead, it was Blanchfield calling for a shot at the belt after the bout.
Later on in the card, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko defended her title against Zhang Weili, who had vacated her strawweight title in order to move up to 125 pounds.
Shevchenko, 37, won via unanimous decision in the battle between the women’s pound-for-pounds No1 and No2.
Elsewhere on the UFC 322 card, Islam Makhachev became welterweight champion by beating Jack Della Maddalena, while Britain’s former welterweight king Leon Edwards was brutally knocked out by Carlos Prates.
