UFC Denver: Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez Prediction, Pick and Odds

With Maycee Barber pulling out of the fight due to health concerns, Tracy Cortez has stepped into the UFC Denver main event against former champion Rose Namajunas.

Namajunas (12-6, 10-5 in UFC) will look to string together her first win streak since 2021 with a potential win in her home state. The former strawweight champion picked up her first win in the 125-pound weight class in the main event of UFC Vegas 89 after dropping her divisional debut to Manon Fiorot the fight before.

Cortez (11-1, 5-0 in UFC) accepted this fight on roughly two week's notice to compete in her first UFC main event and five-round fight. Having never lost in the UFC, Cortez is on a 10-fight win streak overall, not losing since her second professional fight. The 30-year-old is coming off the best win of her career against Jasmine Jasudavicius.

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Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez odds and round total

Moneyline:

• Rose Namajunas -218
• Tracy Cortez +180

Total Rounds:

• 4.5 (Over -280/Under +210)

Rose Namajunas vs. Tracy Cortez best bet

This situation is just asking a lot from Cortez. Though she was preparing to fight on July 20 against Miranda Maverick and not coming in cold, Cortez is being asked to change her entire game plan and re-structure her weight cut to fight a better opponent one week earlier in altitude.

Living in Phoenix, Cortez is no stranger to dry air but the affects of altitude have been increasingly obvious in similar UFC events. More often than not, fighters think they are acclimated to the environment only to see their cardio fall off a cliff in the actual fight. Cardio has never been an issue for Cortez but she has never fought in a five-round fight before and is claiming to already be adjusted to the altitude in just two days, an improbable task.

Cortez also gave a lot of reason to be concerned with her mental state, announcing to the world on The MMA Hour that she briefly contemplated retirement less than six months ago. Nothing Cortez has said during fight week exudes any reason for confidence in a fighter facing the best opponent of her career by a wide margin.

As a wrestler, Cortez will look to push the pace and use her size advantage to grapple but Namajunas has owned a stellar career takedown defense of 59 percent. In her last fight with Amanda Ribas, Namajunas got taken down four times over 25 minutes but quickly returned to her feet each time, ceding just 1:38 of total control time.

Prediction and best bet: Rose Namajunas by decision (+120)

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.