Athletes
Brian Ortega Lives A Warrior’s Life
All-Action Featherweight Brian Ortega Hopes To Put Himself Back In The Title Conversation With A Win At UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Royval
When Brian Ortega suffered his first professional loss to Max Holloway in his first UFC title shot in December 2018, it was assumed the then-27-year-old would share many battles with the top of the division and perhaps capture gold for himself. While he hasn’t secured a UFC title, he did bounce back with a classy performance over “The Korean Zombie” that earned him a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski in September 2021 where he pushed “The Great” as far as anyone had at that point despite falling short.
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Since that fight with Holloway, though, Ortega has been plagued by injury-riddled inactivity. The last time Ortega, who turned 33 on February 21, fought was July 2022, when he suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first round of his main event bout with Yair Rodriguez. The injury would require surgery, and Ortega, who had undergone shoulder surgery multiple times in the past, knew the mental battle he would endure. More than 18 months later, he makes his return in Mexico City, where he will get a chance to have a proper battle with Rodriguez with a five-round co-main event at UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Royval.
“It's been a process,” Oretga told UFC.com. “It's been it's been a journey in itself with everything that's been going down, just the ability to stay in my head and stay focused and still push forward to what I have to do, what I want to do and what I feel I have yet to accomplish is something that is weighs heavy on you.
“Finally being here, healthy, fight week, in shape, close to weight, exactly where I felt like I should have been a long time ago. I'm happy and grateful that I'm here now.”
Ortega is transparent about the difficulties that come with the recovery process, including staying motivated, focused and engaged throughout it all. The frustration is a palpable and understandable tension with Ortega, but so is the excitement of being days away from stepping back into the Octagon, especially with the shuffling of the featherweight deck Ilia Topuria caused when he knocked out Volkanovski and became the new champion.
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While the inactivity has caused some critics to cast their aspersions about Ortega maintaining his Top 5 ranking over the course of the last few years, it’s hard to argue against his stature when you actually look at his work in the Octagon.
The Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt is as all-action as it gets. For all his skills on the ground and with his hands, Ortega’s grit and toughness is as impressive as anything he can do to dispose of his opponents. Through 11 UFC fights, Ortega earned seven performance bonuses, five of which were Fight of the Night awards. While his pressure-heavy, action-friendly style might not be for the faint of heart, Ortega always delivers something special for the fans.
Best Finishes | Brian Ortega
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Best Finishes | Brian Ortega
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“Fortunately, and unfortunately, I do what I say I'm going to do,” Ortega said. “I go in there, and I fight my heart out, and I have a mentality of either I die on my shield or I take someone's head with me. When you have that mentality, you go to war. All my fights are wars. People can't say my fights are boring, and that's because I leave it all in there, and I'm not just talking about it. I don't just say I'm going to do something and come out with the results that I didn't say I was going to do.
“It's a warrior's life, and with the warrior’s life, you walk in there and things break. Simple as that. When you refuse to take no for an answer and you give it all you have, you go to war, and after these wars, unfortunately, it's been surgeries and surgeries, and that's my life.”
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That life brought him to Mexico City with a familiar opponent across from him in Rodriguez. Since the two shared the Octagon for a little more than four minutes on Long Island, “El Pantera” had his own shot at Volkanovski but fell short at UFC 290. Now, the two fan-friendly featherweights finally get to sort out all the questions that have buzzed around their prospective matchup for years.
“I want to see what happens when we both face adversity,” Ortega said. “Then, when we both go through these trials, when his game plan doesn't work against my mine, and mine doesn't work against his, when we hit this master chess game that we call it — there's the human chess — what happens when we're in there? That's something that I'm curious about, which is why I joined the sport.”
There’s also the prizefighting aspect, and with a new champ on top of the division, every featherweight who previously fell short gets a fresh lease on life. Volkanovski is assumed to get a rematch at some point, but timing is everything, particularly after a knockout like Topuria delivered. A win on February 24 could very well distinguish a title challenger. Ortega notes that the title picture has looked the same for a few years, and that a turning of the page could be underway.
For now, though, Ortega is in the moment, a big moment at that. He battled to get back to the place where he can go to war with one of the best in the world, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Royval 2 took place live from Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico on February 24, 2024. See the Prelims / Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
