Weight-cutting methods for fighters include saunas, fasting and exercise — and apparently cutting hair, too.
Ahead of UFC Fight Night from Denver on Saturday, women’s flyweight Tracy Cortez chopped off a sizable portion of her hair in order to make the 126-pound threshold.
Cortez was reported to have weighed in at 127 and 126.5 pounds during her first two weigh-in attempts, resulting in the drastic measure — which led Cortez to fight back tears as she stood atop the scale with the hair in her hand.
“No hesitation,” Cortez said afterward to Sportsnet. “I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
Cortez will officially put her 11-1-0 record to the test against former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas as part of the co-main event from Ball Arena.
The bout will mark Cortez’s first since September 2023, when she beat Jasmine Jasudavicius at Noche UFC.
The 30-year-old is riding an impressive 11-fight win streak but is still in search of her first title opportunity, sitting No. 11 in the women’s flyweight rankings, joking that her battle with Namajunas was “so important I had to chop off my hair.”
Meanwhile, the No. 6 Namajunas looks to reclimb the mountain in a heavier weight class after surrendering her strawweight title to Carla Esparza in May 2022.
Initially, the 32-year-old Namajunas was slated to battle No. 4 flyweight Maycee Barber, but the latter withdrew from the fight on June 28.
Up-and-comer Mike Malott was also scheduled to be featured in action, but his opponent, Gilbert Urbina, pulled out.
Other top fights for UFC’s first event in Denver since 2018 include welterweight bout Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Muslim Salikhov and Drew Dober vs. Jean Silva at lightweight.
As for the pay-per-view schedule, UFC 304 from Manchester, England — including the return of interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall and welterweight champ Leon Edwards — is slated for July 27.