"Just be you" - When Brian Ortega had a message for all the Conor McGregor wannabes
Brian Ortega once had a message for Conor McGregor fans after calls he needed to invent a persona in order to faciliate his rise in the UFC.
Back in 2018, 'T-City' had just picked up the biggest win of his career when he became the first man to finish Frankie Edgar. The victory extended his then undefeated record to 14-0 (1) and he also took home a performance bonus to boot.
The victory over Edgar secured an eventual title bout against Max Holloway, with the pair going head-to-head in December 2018 at UFC 231.
Prior to their clash, Ortega took part in an interview with MMA Junkie and discussed Conor McGregor and his fans. The Irishman was making headlines at the time after his infamous bus attack whilst trying to find Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The California native was then asked about McGregor's meteoric rise and his fiercely loyal fan base, and questioned whether he'd be interested in trying to imitate his persona. Ortega dismissed any notion of doing so, however, and had a message for those that attempy to copy 'The Notorious'. Brian Ortega said:
"There’s only one Conor. Everybody who’s tried to be like Conor, you can tell they’re just fronting... For me, I’m just me... My coach told me ‘F-ck that.’ He’s like, ‘Just be you, bro. You don’t have to lie on the thing. You don’t have to pretend. You don’t have to remember some thing you made up before.’ He goes, ‘Just be you, and you can’t go wrong with being you.’"
Brian Ortega explains why he's better equipped to Yair Rodriguez in upcoming rematch
Brian Ortega has stated that he feels as though he's got an even better chance of being Yair Rodriguez the second time round.
The two lightweight stars original clash came to an abrupt end in 2022 when Ortega suffered a shoulder injury in the first round, rendering him unable to continue.
This time round, however, Ortega is more than confident it's going to be a different outcome. Speaking to Megan Olivi ahead of his rematch against 'El Pantera' next weekend, he said:
"I think It's good, right, because I got time to study a lot of tape, a lot of things that he does, when he does it, how he does it, when he gets creative, [and] when he decides to kind of buckle down. So there is just kind of like a whole time to kind of focus and kind of prep for him better than I did in the first camp."
Catch Brian Ortega's comments here (1:40):