Rose Namajunas Discusses Knocking Off Tracy Cortez’s Fake Eyelash at UFC Denver

Namajunas faced Cortez, who replaced Maycee Barber on short notice, in the main event at UFC on ESPN 59 at the Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday. Namajunas landed the crisper strikes and even got the better of Cortez in most grappling exchanges to earn a unanimous decision victory. However, the most memorable moment of the fight was arguably when Namajunas dropped Cortez with a left hook in the opening frame, which also sent one of the latter’s fake eyelashes flying.

While Namajunas didn’t recognize it during the fight, zoomed in clips of Cortez sporting one fake eyelash after the other went flying have since flooded the internet. “Thug” made light of the situation during an appearance on ”The MMA Hour.”

“I noticed something was up with her eye, I didn’t see how… Like the camera literally captured it [flying] like, deewww. You can’t make that stuff up, that’s just like, God’s got a sense of humor, man,” Namajunas said. “That’s just like classic stuff. Like that is, bless her heart [laughs].”

Namajunas further revealed that fake eyelashes were the biggest bone of contention between her and late UFC makeup artist Suzy Friton, who passed away in 2021. Despite Friton repeatedly insisting that Namajunas wear fake eyelashes, the former strawweight champ never obliged because they would make her eyes droopy. While Namajunas would never advise Cortez to wear fake eyelashes, she wonders whether her opponent has an option after Saturday’s fiasco.

“I don’t even wear fake eyelashes like, period,” Namajunas said. “So rest in peace Suzy [Friton]. She always did my makeup great but she always was trying to make me wear – She would always be like, ‘No you gotta wear these eyelashes.’ And I’m like, ‘Girl I can’t do that.’ Like, I know it looks good or whatever, but it makes me so tired. Like my eyelids just close when I wear those things. And it’s just, ‘No I’m not doing it.’ So that was the battle between me and her for a long time. But yeah, rest in peace… So yeah, I would never do that. But it’s a thing now so I’m curious to see – I mean it’s dangerous, I would never recommend her wearing it but it’s almost like, now don’t you got to wear them?”

Namajunas suffered a unanimous decision loss against Manon Fiorot in her flyweight debut at UFC Paris in September 2023. Having since racked up consecutive unanimous decision wins, Namajunas wants a rematch against Fiorot. Since she fought Fiorot at her home ground in Paris, Namajunas, who is of Lithuanian descent, called for a rematch in Lithuania.

“My dream fight right now would be Manon rematch in Lithuania. Because I fought her in Paris, broke my pinky right away, and I felt like it was very competitive with one hand. But I understand she deserves a title shot as well. So, that’s what I want. I also have really enjoyed doing this quick turnaround. I do want to take a little bit of time to do some stuff ,but I’ll also be ready if a good opportunity pops up too.”

Reference: https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Rose-Namajunas-Discusses-Knocking-Off-Tracy-Cortezs-Fake-Eyelash-at-UFC-Denver-194344