Preview: UFC 322 Prelims

Women’s Flyweights

Erin Blanchfield (13-2, 7-1 UFC) vs. Tracy Cortez (12-2, 6-1 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Blanchfield (-258), Cortez (+210)

As the women’s flyweight title picture sorts itself out in the co-main event, the winner of this pairing could wind up in an advantageous spot. Signed by the UFC at 21 years old, Blanchfield had a solid amount of hype ahead of her first Octagon assignment but had some potential pitfalls. Her approach was a bit aimless at times, and she didn’t appear to be a standout athlete. All that went out the window after her impressive UFC debut. Blanchfield packed some more power onto her frame in the 14 months since her previous fight—unsurprising given her youth—and more importantly married that to a pressure-heavy approach that focused on mauling her opponents. Within months, she scored a big win over Miranda Maverick to announce herself as one of the division’s top young prospects, and from there, her hard-nosed approach got her all the way to the fringes of the title picture. There was a sense that Blanchfield could struggle against someone who matched her physicality, which happened in a big way against Manon Fiorot in 2024. The card was seemingly built around Blanchfield, a New Jersey native, earning a title shot with a big win in Atlantic City, but Fiorot’s size and strength essentially forced her to repeatedly run herself into a wall without much ability to turn things around. Blanchfield got back on track with a five-round win over Rose Namajunas and now looks to avenge the only other defeat of her professional career, revisiting a 2019 loss to Cortez.

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Cortez got the call for the Contender Series shortly after beating Blanchfield and seemed to be a shoo-in for a contract with a win. Cortez’s combination of marketable looks and a tragic life story seemed readymade to be thrown into the UFC’s promotional machine. If anything, she wound up underrated for her first few years with the promotion. This marks the first time Cortez will have two UFC fights within the same calendar year—a level of inactivity that has slowed her rise, particularly since she started her UFC career so impressively. Even after deciding to start her UFC run at 135 pounds, she proved to be a particularly strong wrestler capable of overpowering and controlling opponent after opponent. A 2023 win over Jasmine Jasudavicius, which saw Cortez neutralize a tough opponent on the ground and on the feet, seemed like the impetus for the UFC to finally push her up the ladder, as her next appearance wound up in a main event slot against Namajunas. That marked the first real underperformance of Cortez’s UFC career, even if she didn’t show many additional weaknesses in the process. Her striking and wrestling looked effective, but she simply just never turned up the aggression, taking too long to feel her way into the fight in a late-notice spot. Cortez rebounded well enough, putting together a well-rounded win over Viviane Araujo that showed her striking improvements and her wrestling skills, so she should be quite prepared for this rematch against Blanchfield. It is a fascinating proposition, as their first encounter was a close wrestling-heavy affair, and Blanchfield figures to have made up some of that difference in the years since. Physically, she’s obviously a much stronger fighter now at 25 than she was at age 19. However, Cortez has gotten stronger in her own right and does seem to clear the bar of being the level of athlete with which “Cold Blooded” might struggle, particularly since Blanchfield figures to drag the Phoenix native into the type of wrestling match where she’s also at her best. This is basically a coinflip, but the lean is that Blanchfield taking the initiative is enough to stay ahead on the scorecards in a fight that might be too close to call. The pick is Blanchfield via decision.

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