Brian Ortega has responded to Ilia Topuria’s callout
Brian Ortega was once regarded as one of mixed martial arts’ most dangerous submission artists, but bad luck has plagued him in recent years.
Ortega is currently on a two-match losing streak. Due to a shoulder ailment, the native of Los Angeles was TKOd in the first round by Yair Rodriguez at UFC Long Island in July. Three to four weeks remain until the two-time title challenger can train at full capacity. In the interim, emerging contenders including as Ilia Topuria, who stated his desire to face Ortega after submitting Bryce Mitchell in December, have been making their voices heard.
Speaking with The Schmo about Ilia Topuria’s callout, Ortega responded:
“I see people like Topuria calling me out constantly. Two things come to mind, right? One, I’ll never back down to any fighter. I’ve fought the best of the best. I fought the people that you wish you could fight. Two is, I’m not even able to fight so let me get back on my s***. Let me get back to training and then that’s it.”
“I’ll gladly humble someone if I have to and once they earn their way up to where I’m at, you can come join me. But you can’t use your mouth to come up here. This is the fighting world. You can only do so much with your mouth and this time you’re gonna have to fight. I know he has a fight lined up, good for him. If he earns his way up, let’s do it. Anyone that my manager says we gotta do it with then that’s what it is. I’m ready, I’ve never backed out of any fight, and I’m excited to come back.”
Brian Ortega predicts a potential clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez
Even though featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski lost his last fight in a February champion vs. champion bout against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, the division has not lost momentum.
After losing a close unanimous decision to Makhachev, “The Great” demands a rematch, but on the same night, at UFC 288, Rodriguez was crowned interim 145-pound champion. Ortega is eager to see how things unfold at the division’s pinnacle, as he has faced both fighters previously.
“I think Volkanovski deserves both. I would love to see him run it back with Islam and if that doesn’t happen then he obviously has that defense against Yair and that fight happens. The featherweight division is stacked right now. I think most likely it’ll be ‘Volk’ [who wins]. If I had to take like a just right off the bat educated guess on who it would be, it would be ‘Volk.”
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