“To me, it didn’t look like the same Volk” - Brian Ortega talks Alexander Volkanovski’s loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298
Brian Ortega voiced his thoughts on former opponent Alexander Volkanovski dropping his UFC title recently.
Speaking to Oscar Willis at a media day ahead of his UFC Fight Night main event rematch vs. Yair Rodriguez, 'T-City' was asked about Volkanovski's title loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 via second-round KO.
When asked about the 145-pound class at large as well as that recent title switch, Ortega said:
"It just got shuffled last week, bro (laughs)... Props to Ilia, right. He won, that was an impressive; very impressive devastating KO he got. For Volk, I'm trying to look at it just from both perspectives. Either Topuria's just gameplan was really good, staying calm, moving back, throwing power punches."
"Then Volk, I don't know if it was; to me, it didn't seem like it was the same Volk, right. Then seeing him and being in front of him I'm like man, you're moving different but obviously you adjust for every opponent that he has. So who knows? But I am curious to see what's going to happen now in the featherweight division."
Check out Brian Ortega commenting on Volkanovski dropping the belt below:
Brian Ortega gears up for rematch against Yair Rodriguez
Brian Ortega looks to rebound from consecutive losses here and wants to set things straight in the immediate rematch with Rodriguez after the controversy surrounding their first fight.
The 33-year-old sustained a shoulder injury in the first round of their UFC on ABC 3 bout in July 2022. Some saw it as anti-climactic, and this will be an immediate rematch for Ortega. Conversely, Rodriguez went on to win interim gold and then fell short of Volk in a lineal featherweight title bid at UFC 290.
Prior to that Rodriguez setback, Ortega had fallen short in that aforementioned Volkanovski fight.
Ortega lost via unanimous decision at UFC 266 to Volk in September 2021 in what was his sophomore bid for the UFC featherweight title.
The California native had his first crack at the 145-pound belt against Max Holloway. Ortega took his first-ever MMA loss in that outing, and the proceedings were halted via fourth-round doctor stoppage at UFC 231.
Considering the two prior bids at gold, as well as Ortega's aim to return to the win column from back-to-back losses after a nearly two-year hiatus, a lot of focus will be on his performance this weekend.