Video | Brian Ortega details what was going on in his head during the fourth round of his fight with Max Holloway

UFC featherweight Brian Ortega has revealed what he was thinking during the fourth round of his title fight against Max Holloway.

Ortega looks set to return to the Octagon next month for a highly anticipated showdown against The Korean Zombie. It’ll be the first time fans have seen him fight since back in December 2018 when he unsuccessfully challenged Max Holloway for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 231.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Ortega spoke about how he felt in the midst of that one-sided loss.

“Everyone was like ‘Why don’t you do a takedown?’ F—, if I had hands, I could try more, but I don’t even have thumbs at this point.”

The thoughts that ran through @BrianTcity‘s mind during the fourth round against Max Holloway are next-level tough 😳 (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/EJtUt0xw1R

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 2, 2020

“I’m going into the fourth round with one broken thumb, and it’s dislocated, my other hand is fractured, and everyone is like ‘why don’t you do a takedown?’. F***, if I had hands I could try more, but I don’t even have thumbs at this point,” Ortega said. “Nose broken, eye swollen shut, and it’s the fourth round and you’re getting tired with the lack of weight energy. So it was like, dude, you’re gonna have to knock me the f*** out or kill me because I’m not gonna stop. I still believe in myself that I’ll make something happen. I’m gonna find some magic. I would eat 10 or 12 shots, and I know I was eating them, but if you put your hands up, he hits your thumb and it hurts. You put your hand down and he hits your face, it wasn’t that bad.

“I had to pick which one I wanted, and I went with the one that didn’t hurt the most,” Ortega added. “He has good striking but his power wasn’t as powerful as other people that I’ve felt before.”

It’s clear to see that Brian Ortega is eager to remind people why he’s such a big presence in the division, with one of the reasons for that being his desire to move on from the Jay Park incident.

“The internet is full of people who talk sh*t and never have to pay any consequence for it,” Ortega said. “I don’t know who those people are, but bro I know who you are, and you are kinda mouthing off a little bit. You got a little too much confidence. So I just said it straight.”

“People don’t agree, that it was immature, whatever, maybe it’s the old me that I kinda gotta check, but it happened. It happened, it is what it was. It was just a slap, dude. These fans pay for our blood, to basically watch us kill each other in the cage, and they’re gonna get offended for a slap. Whatever. My mom slaps me daily when I cuss. It’s a slap. Relax,” Ortega added.

“After I pulled that stunt in Vegas, (the UFC matchmakers) wanted to make this fight. And then it was like ok, anybody else wasn’t offered to us, and the people that were offered were so high up the rankings that it didn’t make sense. And then we’re like yeah alright, Dana White and the people want to see this fight, so we’re like kinda locked into each other,” Ortega said.

How do you think Brian Ortega will do in his return to the Octagon?