Rose Namajunas questions Tracy Cortez's 'very suspicious' weigh-in hair cut drama after dominant UFC Denver victory
14/07/2024 11:58
After making easy work of Tracy Cortez at UFC Denver, Rose Namajunas admitted that she too had suspicions over the weigh-in drama.
The former UFC champion is on a path to once again reclaim her title, having followed up a unanimous decision win over Amanda Ribas earlier this year with another UD win in Colorado – but that isn't to say that the drama stopped at the judges' scorecards.
The scales dominated the UFC Denver pre-fight headlines
Undoubtedly one of the more unique weigh-in stories we've had in recent times, flyweight contender Tracy Cortez opted to cut off a portion of her own hair to make the contractually obligated weight limit before her clash with Rose Namajunas on Friday afternoon.
Yet it wasn't because Cortez had failed to retain her discipline as she made the cut to 126lbs, with reports emerging that there had once again been a discrepancy between the 'check' scales in the back and the 'official' weigh-in scales in front of the cameras.
Whilst Cortez was able to make weight on her second attempt, this time a ponytail short, the fan-favorite contender struggled to hold back tears as she stepped up to the scale – now, following the event coming to a decisive conclusion, Namajunas has given her thoughts on the situation.
Rose Namajunas reacts to UFC Denver weight cut drama
After dropping Cortez in the opening round, 'Thug' Rose Namajunas' victory never really looked in doubt as she dominated all 25 minutes of the flyweight contest en route to her sixth decision win in the UFC.
Speaking to media at the post-fight press conference, Namajunas explained that whilst she understood her opponent's frustration with having to cut her hair to make weight; she also admitted that she had her own suspicions of there being something wrong with the scales.
"To me, it's just hair, I do sometimes still have dreams of my long hair, so I know that it's a big deal, but this is fighting. I can't wait until I'm done fighting to when I can focus on being pretty again… But I don't know, it's just kind of hard to focus on that kind of stuff while you're fighting."
Namajunas then revealed that she had spotted that there was an issue with the UFC scales when she stepped up to make weight: "I don't know who is in charge of making sure the scale that you check your weight on before you get on the official scale, they're supposed to be the same – and they were not the same.
"Whoever is in charge of that, I need to talk to because that was very, to me was very suspicious or something didn't feel right as soon as I noticed the discrepancy."
Whilst 'Thug' Rose did state that it was "all good" either way as she just wanted to fight, no matter the weight of her opponent, she did take issue with the fact that such an egregious mistake could happen in such an enormous spot.
"You can ask multiple fighters but basically, they give us a scale that's supposed to be matched up with the official scale, like we check with the officials before we step on the official scales, "and it was like a pound difference.
"That's never happened before as far as I've ever experienced," she continued, adding how "That was kind of weird because it was lighter on the official scale.
"I didn't know what that was about, I don't know why that happened, but I wouldn't have went [out] and cut an extra few ounces [of hair] if it wasn't different."
With the victory in Denver, Rose Namajunas improved her professional record to 13-6, and in her post-fight interview called for either a title shot or a chance to fight for a female BMF championship belt.
