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Brian Ortega has done it all at featherweight—outside of capturing an undisputed UFC title—so he’s looking to new horizons.
Next Saturday, Ortega fights Diego Lopes in the co-main event of UFC 303 in Las Vegas. The bout was put together on short-notice for both fighters with the top-2 fights on the card (Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler and Jamahal Hill vs. Carlos Ulberg) falling through. According to Ortega, he wasn’t expecting his next fight to be so soon nor in the weight class he’s competed in for the majority of his career.
Ortega was actually targeting a lightweight bout at Las Vegas Sphere for September.
“We talked about fighting Sept. 14 at the Sphere,” Ortega told MMA Junkie. “That’s the only conversation I legitimately had with them that made sense. I said yes to it, they said yes to it, we all got excited, and that was kind of the works. They told that my weight class had no one really that they wanted me to fight. They didn’t want me to fight contenders and stuff, so I decided to move to 155.”
Currently No. 5 at 145 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Ortega finds himself in limbo when it comes to championship contention. He’s twice challenged for the UFC featherweight title, losing to Max Holloway at UFC 231 and then Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266.
Ortega has beaten a number of ranked contenders along the way, leaving him unsure of what his options are at featherweight given that current champion Ilia Topuria appears to have a full dance card.
“There’s no title fight for me anytime soon,” Ortega said.
“Because of what’s going on in the game,” he continued. “Max has a guaranteed title shot and Volk does as well. So even when Topuria does fight, he fights Max. If Max wins, it’s Max vs. Volk 4, which is going to take up to next year. If Topuria wins and it’s Topuria vs. Volk 2, then I still have to wait until next year. So when I say the title fight’s not coming anytime soon, it’s just not, because of the favors that both of them have done. The leaps and the risks that they both have taken, Volk on two weeks’ notice as well against Islam [Makhachev], and Max against [Justin] Gaethje, although it was a full camp, he faced Gaethje for the ‘BMF’ belt. So both of them, it’s a lot. Everyone’s done a lot, so for me to say that I’m there and I deserve it right now, it’s not true.
“Selfishly, of course, since I was a kid I’ve been chasing to be a champion, but you have to make peace with reality and that’s the reality of this game right now. That’s where it’s at, that’s where we’re going, so why not just have fun with my career?”
One problem that has plagued Ortega in recent years is a lack of activity. Injuries have limited the 33-year-old to just four fights since 2018, a fact he accepts as a consequence of his go-for-broke style.
Should he follow through on his plan to move up in weight, Ortega isn’t targeting any opponent in particular. He’s just trying to take advantage of a stretch of good health that has been all too rare for him.
“Islam at 155? It’s not even chasing him,” Ortega said. “There’s nothing in my weight class, why not move up to another one? Let me fight. I haven’t been healthy in a while. I just want to fight and at this point, I’ve fought a who’s who in terms of champion-wise. I beat basically almost everyone I faced except for the two champs in their prime. I fought Max when he was Max, and Volk when he was Volk, and I came up short on both.
“Now it’s create my own way. If I keep waiting for them right now, it’s like I’m living almost in their shadow or like I’m just waiting. I’m done waiting. I have a beautiful life, I have a beautiful family, I have a beautiful home. I’m going to have a beautiful career and that’s what it is for me.”
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