What happened to Tracy Cortez's brother? Tragic meaning behind the UFC star's arm tattoo
UFC women's flyweight Tracy Cortez had three siblings. However, she lost her eldest brother in 2011.
Jose Cortez was an MMA fighter himself and had a dream of competing in the UFC before being diagnosed with germ-cell cancer around 2008. As a result, he had to quit his pursuit. After battling with the condition for three years, he passed away in 2011.
The loss of her brother had a huge impact on Tracy Cortez and she struggled through depression because of it. Interestingly, it was her late brother who had gotten her into MMA. When she was 14 years old, Cortez began training after watching her brother.
In a tribute to Jose Cortez, the UFC flyweight has a tattoo on her arm of her brother sporting a UFC T-shirt.
Tracy Cortez addresses viral picture with Paulo Costa
Earlier this year, Cortez went viral on the internet because of her picture with Paulo Costa. Many believed that it was the reason behind her breakup with Brian Ortega. However, that isn't the case.
Speaking about it during an interview with MMA journalist Andrew Whitelaw for Sportskeeda MMA ahead of her bout with Jasmine Jasudavicius this weekend, Tracy Cortez revealed that she, Paulo Costa, and his fiancee had a laugh together when they got to know about the rumors and decided to just "run with it":
"Again, I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. But, for some reason, I can't take a photo with anybody because people will just run with whatever imagination they have in their head. But, I did, I had a good laugh at it. Him [Paulo Costa] and his wife, or fiancee, video-chatted me... They called me... I was like, 'Man, you know what?' I said, 'I don't care. Run with it. It's funny. It's bringing people in. Do what you gotta do. But, just let's clear the air once everything settles.'... It was literally just a picture."Catch Tracy Cortez's comments about the situation in the video below (8:48):
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