Erin Blanchfield put her name on the short list of women’s flyweight title contenders earlier tonight (Sat., Nov. 15, 2025) at UFC 322 LIVE on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Madison Square Garden
in New York City, after becoming the first fighter to stop Tracy Cortez under the UFC banner with a second-round submission (rear-naked choke).
Blanchfield, who was last seen defeating former UFC champion Rose Namajunas nearly one year ago, had already lost to Cortez on the regional MMA circuit back in 2019. She was only 19 years old at the time and has obviously improved as a complete fighter since then, but the loss still had to linger in the back of Blanchfield’s mind.
Cortez looked good in the early going as she was able to maintain her distance and land some solid strikes. Blanchfield scored some nice shots as well, but she wasn’t able to implement her grappling all too much. That all changed in Round 2 as Blanchfield was able to secure a takedown in the middle of the cage and earned some valuable top time.
The fight eventually returned to the feet, but Blanchfield was there again for another takedown. This time around she was able to sneak in a rear-naked choke attempt as Cortez was trying to return to her feet. Cortez appeared close to fighting the choke off, but once Blanchfield transitioned to her back she was able to put the finishing touches on her revenge win over Cortez.
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