Recap: Cortez and Pass go back a long way’s so a little strange that it took them this long to battle. But with KOTD providing the platform, these two vets finally meet up on the stage and it’s a more consistent and versatile Cortez who takes this one in what was an entertaining and punch-heavy matchup with plenty of syrupy punchlines from both battlers, but also some quizzical moments like Pass wasting too many bars on not getting a chance at the KOTD chain and failing to be more crisp with his angles. The latter issue is something a confident Cort would take advantage of in the first couple of rounds with a deluge of fiery personals, flippant name flips, heated gun bars and other heated schemes/wordplay, all with an invigorating and tight flow that got him the aforementioned rounds, before an elongated turn in the 3rd (and Pass dishing his best round) cost him getting a shutout.
Verdict: Cortez (W) 2-1
Favorite line: Cortez – “Boy, fuck your open nights at the Pit, cocky is how you come off, you from the era of Scribble Jam, but get treated like a jump-off!”
