Probably the greatest BJJ master of the featherweight division would love to fight the greatest BJJ master on the roster.
After more than nine months, Brian Ortega will step into the UFC cage again tonight. The second-ranked challenger of the UFC featherweight division suffered a heavy beating from Alexander Volkanovski in the ninth month of last year, and today he will look for a return to victory against Yair Rodriguez.
Ortega is in a somewhat unenviable situation within the featherweight category. Through his last three appearances, he fought for the title twice and lost both times. Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski totally outclassed him, but they are also the only fighters who managed to defeat him.
There is no doubt that T-City still hopes to win the featherweight title, but a move to lightweight is also part of his ambitions.
“At some point, I would like to move up and fight in the lightweight category. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have to shut everyone up and go to a higher category. In the future, I’ll fight in the lightweight category.”
It is about Charles Oliveira, according to many the best BJJ master in the history of the UFC. Ortega is also a great master of parterre and it would be a stylistically very interesting showdown.
“It would be a great match. He’s a tough guy and he’s on a great streak right now. I am so happy for him because his story is motivating. He was losing and losing, it seemed like he was done. Everyone forgot about him, and as a fighter, at such moments you wonder if this is the end of your career. But the guy moved up (Oliveira used to compete at featherweight) and started to dominate. How many wins in a row, 10 (11)? He won the belt and defended it once or twice. It’s all motivating. Sharing the cage with such a fighter would be an honor for me. Some may misunderstand this ‘roll call’, but as a fighter and competitor, I want to test myself against the best,” said Ortega.
