Ailin Perez Calls for Bantamweight Clash with Tracy Cortez Amid Heated Social Media Exchange

The rivalry between Tracy Cortez and Ailin Perez has been reignited in a fiery exchange after Perez missed weight for her UFC Paris bout against Darya Zheleznyakova. The Argentine fighter tipped the scale at 136.6 pounds, 0.6 pounds above the bantamweight limit for a non-title fight.

Perez’s weight struggles come just months after she had mocked Cortez for her own difficulties at the scales before her UFC Denver bout against Rose Namajunas in July.

Despite the weight hiccup, Perez secured an impressive first-round submission victory over Zheleznyakova. However, she will be forced to forfeit 20 percent of her fight purse as a penalty for missing weight. Cortez, never one to miss an opportunity, took to social media platform X to throw a playful jab at her Argentine rival:

“Y’all won’t catch me talking sh** here on social media BUT my oh MY how the tables have turned. 136.6 [pounds] lol.”

In a follow-up post, she added, “The @onlyf*ns will help you with that 20% deduction.”

Perez, ever the firecracker, was quick to respond with a witty retort. Referring to Cortez’s well-documented weight cut where the American fighter famously trimmed her hair to make the weight for her bout against Namajunas, Perez wrote:

“I would rather lose 20% of my purse than half my hair along with the fight [Tracy Cortez].”

Perez didn’t stop there, issuing a bold challenge for a bantamweight showdown between the two and criticizing Cortez for not tagging her directly in the posts. The trash talk may have reignited a rivalry, but it also could be the perfect spark for an exciting future matchup between the two rising stars.

While Cortez has spent the majority of her career in the flyweight division, her lone bantamweight appearance came in 2019, where she picked up a unanimous decision win over Vanessa Melo in her UFC debut.

Meanwhile, Perez, who also started her career as a flyweight, has been active in the bantamweight division and appears ready to settle the score with Cortez in the octagon.

With both fighters exchanging verbal jabs and their rivalry reaching new heights, fans may soon be treated to an electrifying clash in the bantamweight division.