Despite a fair amount of bad luck, Brian Ortega still got a huge win at UFC Mexico City against Yair Rodriguez, and due to an accidental headbutt less than a month before, there was a chance the fight may not have happened.
Ortega delivered an incredible comeback third round submission win over Rodriguez in the co-main event this past Saturday night. According to his coach Rener Gracie, “T-City” suffered a nasty cut just above his right eye — right below the brow — during training.
Check out photos, and the video of the headbutt in the slides below, courtesy of Gracie’s Instagram.
“Three weeks before the fight, Brian caught a nasty head butt while training,” Gracie wrote on Instagram. “It was so deep that he had to get four stitches on the inside and 10 on the surface.
“Being so close to the fight we knew that one light punch in that region would have busted it right open. It was our biggest concern (until he rolled his ankle during Round 0).”
Gracie also said that when he asked Ortega if he still wanted to fight Rodriguez, it was an easy decision.
“The show continues, homie,” Ortega said in a video response via one of the slides in Gracie’s post. “We don’t even care. [We’re] sweating, The show continues.”
Ortega now awaits his next move, which may be a title shot against new champion Ilia Topuria following the all-important victory.