Who was Jose Cortez, Tracy Cortez's brother?

Born into a family of fighters, Tracy Cortez had three siblings, the eldest being Jose Cortez. However, Jose died of germ cell cancer in 2011.

Tracy Cortez credits Jose as the reason behind her move to combat sports.

Tracy had followed Jose into the wrestling scene. It was his November 2008 bout against UFC veteran Drew Fickett that prompted her to strap up the MMA gloves.

Unfortunately, his bout against Fickett marked his last fight. He had shown signs of distress during the contest. He was diagnosed with cancer soon after the fight, and lost his battle to the disease three years later.

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Tracy Cortez honors her brother Jose

Right after Tracy Cortez was smitten with the art of MMA, she was put into a fight at a gym by her brother . Jose Cortez believed that a beating would force Tracy Cortez away from the combat sports circuit, but his move backfired.

In the aftermath of her brother's passing, Tracy Cortez got a tattoo of him sporting a UFC t-shirt. She revealed that it was her brother's dream to fight in the promotion. Following her debut in Dana White's Contender Series, she has gone on to record an unbeaten streak of four fights in the UFC.

She has previously spoken about her mindset and how her brother's experience influenced her mentality going into fights.

"Every time I feel tired or I feel fatigued or I question anything, I think like, damn, my brother fought with cancer in his heart and he didn't give up. He fought through it. I'm perfectly healthy. I'm more than capable to do what I'm doing. This is easy work. That's a huge motivator for me."