Tracy Cortez is putting herself first before resuming her UFC career.
On Monday, the fast-rising flyweight (currently 4-0 in the UFC) provided an update on her health after she was forced to withdraw from a fight with Amanda Ribas at UFC Orlando on Dec. 3. The withdrawal was officially announced as being due to a medical issue, but neither Cortez nor the UFC offered any further clarification on the matter.
Cortez addressed the situation on Instagram via a post and through Instagram Stories.
“I know after my fight I’ve been a little MIA here on social media,” Cortez wrote in a caption. “I’m gonna be as honest as I can be. I’m currently in a place in my life where I’ve just been going through it, physically and mentally.
“I want to say I haven’t been in the right head space since sometime in August. 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.”
Cortez logged one UFC appearance in 2022, defeating Melissa Gatto by unanimous decision this past May to maintain her unbeaten UFC record and win her 10th straight fight overall.
She did not provide a timetable for a potential return, writing, “In all honestly I don’t know BUT I will be back, strong, and with a purpose far greater then I’ve ever had before. 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 and wait for the storm to pass, I walk through it with my head high.”
Later, in an Instagram Stories series, Cortez added that “I went through my camp extremely depressed” and that being forced to pull out of UFC Orlando “broke me.”
The 29-year-old reiterated that for now her focus is on taking care of herself, particularly her mental health.
“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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