Brian Ortega has been around in the UFC for some time now. His never-give-up attitude and slick submissions have always entertained fans. Since his promotional debut back in 2014, Ortega has fought some of the biggest names in the featherweight division. However, ‘T-City’ was once close to making his lightweight debut against none other than the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov.
After beating Yair Rodriguez, Brian Ortega was supposed to fight Diego Lopes at UFC 303. However, he was forced to withdraw due to illness on the day of the fight. The fight will now take place this weekend at UFC 306. Ahead of the fight, Ortega was asked about his missed opportunity to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. The featherweight fighter then shared details about his experience.
Dana White called me – it was a short-week notice fight. He said, ‘We need someone to fight Khabib, bro’. I was like, ‘alright, let’s go’… And that’s a matchup that the whole world is going to say I’d get my a** whooped. Cool. But as a martial artist, there’s always been this whole sambo versus jiu jitsu or wrestling versus jiu jitsu.
Brian Ortega via UFC 306 media day
This incident took place at UFC 223, where the main event was originally scheduled to be between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. After Ferguson’s knee injury, Max Holloway stepped in to become the second-ever UFC double champion. However, Holloway was deemed medically unfit. Finally, Al Iaquinta came in as the replacement.
According to Ortega, he was on standby in New York and lost motivation after Holloway was picked as the replacement. Ortega mentioned that he lost an opportunity to take on one of the most dominant grapplers in the sport. He stated that it would have been a competitive clash between BJJ and Russian Sambo.
Brian Ortega gets a reality check from popular referee about fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov was constantly looking for takedowns, employing chain wrestling and clinch skills to control opponents against the cage. On the ground, he was skilled at top control, ground and pound, and submissions. His cardio enabled him to maintain a fast tempo, breaking opponents both mentally and physically.
Brian Ortega and Khabib Nurmagomedov (via X)This stifling technique, which combined Sambo, Judo, and wrestling, helped Nurmagomedov become one of the most dominant fighters in MMA history.
While talking about a potential fight, Brian Ortega once mentioned that he is capable of submitting the ‘Eagle.’ However, the legendary John McCarthy immediately shut down these claims and called out the loopholes.
I love Brian Ortega; I have done a ton of Brian’s fights and Brian pulls off great submissions. He’s got a good stand-up, he’s good everywhere. And he would end up underneath Khabib and he would not be pulling off any of those submissions. Khabib is good at submissions and what he’s really good at is submission defense.
John McCarthy via Weighing In’ podcast
Ortega has developed a respect for Nurmagomedov in his latest interview and was grateful for his contribution to the sport. After Nurmagomedov successfully coached Islam Makhachev to become the lightweight champion, Ortega joked about getting trained by the lightweight legend. It appears unlikely that the duo would train together at the moment.
