Brian Ortega sheds light on shocking Dana White once after accepting to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on short notice: "He was like, 'For real?'"
Brian Ortega has not competed since February when he defeated Yair Rodriguez via third-round submission at UFC Fight Night 237. He was set to face Diego Lopes at UFC 303, but was forced to withdraw the day of the bout due to illness. This led the bout to be rescheduled for UFC 306 this weekend.
'T-City' recently revealed that he once accepted to face Khabib Nurmagomedov on short notice at UFC 223. Speaking at the media day for the promotion's first event at the Las Vegas Sphere, the No. 3-ranked featherweight stated:
"I was in the backyard, Dana White called me - it was a short week notice fight, I don't know how short - he said, 'we need someone to fight Khabib, bro'. I was like, 'alright, let's go'. He was like, 'for real?' And I was like, 'yeah'. I think he was shocked, as well. And that's a matchup that the whole world is going to say I'd get my a** whooped. Cool. But as a martial artist, there's always been this whole sambo versus jiu jitsu or wrestling versus jiu jitsu."
Ortega continued:
"At that time before I believed in merging arts, I was like, they're against each other so let's see if I can be a good representative of being a good subject of being at the bottom of the fight who can submit someone or make it dangerous for someone who's a well-known grappler who just is known for holding you down and you can't do anything about it. That's what intrigued me about it."
Check out Brian Ortega's comments below:
Ortega added that he was flown to New York and kept on standby throughout the week. He noted that he has made peace with the fact that the bout wasn't meant to come to fruition and that he admires what Nurmagomedov was able to accomplish in his career.
Brian Ortega reveals he is still planning to move to lightweight
Brian Ortega teased he is planning to move up to lightweight after facing Diego Lopes at UFC 306. 'T-City' revealed that his plans have not changed when asked at the media day, responding:
"1000%. 1000%. You have [Ilia] Topuria and Max [Holloway] fighting in October then after that you have whatever day [the winner and Alexander Volkanovski] decide on next year to fight and then. So it's like a line to fight for the belt and depending on how this fight goes this weekend it's going to determine whether the fans believe that I deserve another shot or not. But either or, my goal is to stay busy and if there's nothing for me in the featherweight division then I'll move up."
Check out Brian Ortega's comments on moving to lightweight below:
Ortega has challenged for the featherweight title twice, losing to Max Holloway via fourth-round TKO at UFC 231 and Alexander Volkanovski via unanimous decision at UFC 266. He has never competed at lightweight in his mixed martial arts career.