Brian Ortega News

Drake Riggs - March 13, 2018

Very few matchups have people buzzing so early as the next featherweight title fight between champion, Max Holloway and red-hot contender, Brian Ortega. The hype began as soon as Ortega iced his short notice opponent, Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 in the very first round, making him the first and only man to ever finish ‘the Answer’.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

After knocking out Frankie Edgar in the co-main event of UFC 222 last weekend, Brian Ortega now has his crosshairs locked on UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. It’s a monumental challenge, to say the least, but it isn’t stopping Ortega from looking further into the future. On a recent episode of theUFC Unfiltered podcast, the surging featherweight contender shared grand plans to move to the lightweight division down the road. That being said, Ortega isn’t going to be heading North to 155 pounds for any old challenge. It’s going to take something truly special to coax him up to this heavier division.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

Last Saturday night, in the co-main event of the action-packed UFC 222, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar risked the featherweight title shot he had so clearly earned in a short-notice bout with surging contender Brian Ortega. Unfortunately for Edgar, this bout went disastrously, as he was put down by an Ortega in the uppercut in the very first round of the fight. This knockout loss marked the first time Edgar had ever been finished in his illustrious career. It also meant that his claim to a featherweight title shot had been dashed – quite possibly forever. As such, it’s no surprise that this loss caused absolute devastation among his cornermen, who watched on nervously from cage-side.

Justin Golightly - March 7, 2018

After Brian Ortega’s historic finish of former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, there wasn’t really any doubt that he deserved the right to challenge Max Holloway for that featherweight title. However, we all know that nothing is certain in this world, especially in combat sports. One phone call can change all that and that’s what this video is all about. Check out Ortega smiling ear-to-ear reacting to Dana White calling him to tell him he’s got the shot. “I heard 227 in August was supposed to be UFC Hawaii, but I Tweeted 226 because you know, I gotta move on. You can’t hold this stuff forever, I can’t hold my breath. I got a life, I got a family to take care of, I got a little kid, I got fans. If I can’t get UFC Hawaii I said, the Ninth Island is the next best thing. It’s tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day, it is what it is. We can’t control nothing. All we can do is create buzz. I’d like to thank all the fans who are creating buzz.” — Max Holloway speaking to KHON 2.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

When Brian Ortega knocked out Frankie Edgar in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 222, he earned himself a shot at increasingly dominant UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. From the moment Ortega earned this bout with Holloway, it’s been talked about as one of the best fights in the history of the featherweight division; a collision of two tremendous, young talents and well-rounded arsenals and killer instinct to boot.

Chris Taylor - March 4, 2018

Frankie Edgar’s coach issues emotional statement following KO loss to Brian Ortega Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (22-6-1 MMA) suffered the first stoppage loss of his legendary mixed martial arts career to Brian Ortega at last night’s UFC 222 event in Las Vegas.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC 222, streaking featherweight contender Brian Ortega stepped into the cage with Frankie Edgar in a clear number-one contender fight. Despite the talent of his veteran foe, Ortega came through in the biggest way possible, putting Edgar down with a rocket-fuelled uppercut in the first round. It was the first time Edgar had ever been finished in his illustrious career.

Chris Taylor - March 3, 2018

MMA Community reacts to Brian Ortega’s incredible knockout of Frankie Edgar! UFC featherweight Brian Ortega shocked the world tonight when he became the first fighter in history to finish UFC legend Frankie Edgar.

Justin Golightly - March 3, 2018

.@briantcity reveals he’w starting the Brian Ortega Foundation and T-City Scholarship to give back to the kids in his community: “I just want to make them smile and have some fun with them.” #UFC #UFC222 pic.twitter.com/0VK4eH7L3X — José Youngs (@JoseYoungs) March 1, 2018

Justin Golightly - March 3, 2018

In just a few hours, all eyes are going to be on Brian Ortega in his high-profile, large stakes fight with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. Correction, all eyes will be on the ground. Ortega is on a crazy 13-fight win streak and 7 of those are all by submission. His latest sub was against elite featherweight Cub Swanson and he’ll look to do the same tonight at UFC 222. However, he’s been doing it long before he stepped inside an MMA cage. #UFC222 co-headliner @BrianTcity is the real deal, but you may also want to keep your eye on his lil bro. More from Ortega here: https://t.co/Cxn5uXL62i pic.twitter.com/JCd4uxJF4N

Justin Golightly - March 1, 2018

This is Brian Ortega’s moment on Saturday. You can almost hear Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ playing in the background when thinking about the upcoming match-up with Frankie Edgar. At only 27-years old, this may not be Ortega’s ‘one shot’, but it certainly is his biggest yet. Edgar has made a career about being the enforcer who stops any hot prospect from getting a title shot besides him. While he may not know it, Edgar will be doing all he can to stop Ortega from not only getting that fight for the belt, but from moving out of the hood. “I don’t count my chickens before they hatch you know. It sucks man, it sucks. I’m still in the hood, but you know, luckily I got love there and no one messes with me. The goal honestly, the way I see things happening is I beat Frankie [Edgar], then I have some good money, then I fight for the belt and that’s when I take off and buy my own house or whatever. It’s expensive over here in LA, man.”

Tom Taylor - February 27, 2018

In a career that spans 28 bouts against some of the best fighters on earth, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has never been finished. Of all the monsters he’s fought, not one has found a way to put him down for good. Jim Miller and Sean Sherk couldn’t do it. Neither could Gray Maynard or BJ Penn, who fought Edgar three times each. Benson Henderson and Jose Aldo couldn’t find a way, even when the fought Edgar for a second time. Charles Oliveira couldn’t do it. Cub Swanson couldn’t do it. Urijah Faber couldn’t do it. Chad Mendes couldn’t do it. Jeremy Stephens couldn’t do it. Yair Rodriguez couldn’t do it. You get the damn picture.

Justin Golightly - February 9, 2018

Everyone is familiar with the fable about the Tortoise and the Hare. The moral of the story was slow and steady wins the race. It ended up working out for Max Holloway. We all had our hands up in the air wondering when he would get his shot after taking out every contender imaginable. Now, the undefeated Brian Ortega is finally one single step closer to the featherweight title after an insane 13-fight win streak. However, Frankie Edgar is one giant step he’ll have to get over at UFC 222. Not only that, it’s on short notice. Ortega isn’t worried though, for him, it’s just like any other fight. “I’ve been in so many street fights. It doesn’t matter that I’m taking a fight on a month’s notice. I’ve taken many fights on two seconds’ notice. I was out of town, they asked if I want the fight [back at UFC New Orleans with Thiago Tavares in 2015] and I said, ‘Yep.’ I started running right there in the parking lot. It’s not a big deal. It’s like a street fight. If someone puts ’em up, you’ve gotta put ’em up. This is the fight for me [with Frankie Edgar]. Once I took it, I took a second to appreciate the hard work. I’m here. My face is on the poster, the fight’s going down. I’ve never seen this happening like this, so considering that, I’ve already won. Now when I fight Frankie and beat him, I’ll prove everything I need to all the fight fans.”

Justin Golightly - February 7, 2018

After UFC 222 was put in major jeopardy with Max Holloway’s leg injury, the UFC was scrambling 100mph in order to save the card. They were trying to get TJ Dillashaw to defend his title against Cody Garbrandt, while keeping Frankie Edgar on the card as the co-main in a non-title fight. Even Nate Diaz was in the running to jump on. It looks like now the UFC are trying to throw Cris Cyborg on the card to defend her women’s UFC featherweight title against former Invicta FC bantamweight champ Yana Kunitskaya. There are deals in place to have Cris Cyborg vs. Yana Kunitskaya for the women’s 145 belt headline UFC 222 on 3/3 w/ Frankie Edgar vs. Brian Ortega as the co-main, per multiple sources. Not 100% finalized but that’s the current direction and it’s looking promising at the moment.

Justin Golightly - February 3, 2018

After the crushing news of Max Holloway’s injury that will force him out of his UFC 222 title fight with Frankie Edgar, the UFC is absolutely scrambling to get a new main event. There are a ton of different directions that the organization could go with Jose Aldo, Cub Swanson, or even Darren Elkins if they keep Frankie Edgar on the card. A lot of fans and media were wondering if there would be yet another interim title put on the line, but is looks like the UFC has decided against that. The latest news on a replacement for Max Holloway is surging contender Brian Ortega in a non-title fight. UFC is working on salvaging 222. Obviously the card can’t be a PPV after losing that headliner (this is why not all second-to-last fights are “co-mains”). Might involve replacing Holloway vs Edgar or a new main altogether. Developing.

Justin Golightly - January 11, 2018

Josh Emmett has been wanting to capitalize off his fire built off of the startling knockout of top featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas. He classily offered a rematch to Lamas, but it looks like both parties are moving on. He put his sights on Brian Ortega, who had his own upset over Cub Swanson, but it looks like it all of that has fell through. While everyone wondered what was going to be the main event of UFC Orlando would be, at one point it was Emmett fighting Ortega. According to the man himself though, Ortega has refused the fight. I just got some bad news like just, thirty minutes ago. The UFC was actually putting this fight together [with Brian Ortega]. Ortega and I were supposed to fight. We were going to headline a fight on another huge card and he will not fight me. He turned it down. He flat out said he will not fight me. I have no idea [the reason]. He just will not fight me. We were going to headline the UFC Orlando card. Main event on FOX.”

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2017

Last Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Fresno, California, surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega picked up the biggest win of his career, tapping long-time contender Cub Swanson in the second round. With this win, Ortega immediately stands out as one of the top contenders in the featherweight division – perhaps even the next man in line for the champ Max Holloway. Post-fight, UFC President Dana White sang Ortega’s praises, hailing him as the next big thing at featherweight.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

T-CITY! BRIAN ORTEGA JUST DID THAT! WOW! #Taps #UFCFresno https://t.co/3XzNcCAvXG — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 10, 2017