Brian Ortega has one of the most iconic walkouts in the history of UFC. The fighter made a The Purge-themed walkout at UFC 266 when he fought Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title. Years after the event, the featherweight fighter has finally revealed the story behind the Purge walkout.
I’ve been playing with my kids a little too rough. Like I was running around one time and I was like ‘I’m going to kill you!’ and the kids were screaming and they were about to call the cops because they thought I was going to kill my kids.
Brian Ortega via UFC 303 pre-fight presser
The Purge is a 2013 horror film written and directed by James DeMonaco. It takes place in a dystopian future in which all criminal activity, including murder, is legal for 12 hours on a single night each year. In the movie, sirens wail loudly throughout the United States, indicating that the Purge has begun. Brian Ortega used the same sirens and music during his ‘Purge’ walkout at UFC 266.
#UFC303‘s Brian Ortega shares the dark story behind his famous Purge walkout. 😳
“If The Purge was real, I would’ve gone upstairs (to my neighbours) and handled business.” pic.twitter.com/fjca7SnCdN
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 26, 2024
The walkout received a massive response from the fight fans. In the fight, Ortega put on a great performance and came very close to submitting Alexander Volkanovski via a guillotine. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to put down ‘The Great.’ However, the fighter has bounced back from the loss and is now eager for his fight at UFC 303.
Brian Ortega shares the story about how he got a spot at UFC 303
Other than the Conor McGregor main event, the co-main event of UFC 303 also had to be canceled. In this situation, the UFC called out Brian Ortega to step in and fight the rising Diego Lopes in a featherweight clash. However, the story behind the fight is rather very interesting.
Brian Ortega opens up about fighting Diego Lopes at UFC 303 (via Instagram)During a recent conversation with ESPN MMA, Ortega revealed that it happened after he met Dana White and Hunter Campbell randomly in a hotel. According to Ortega, the fight might never have taken place if the meeting hadn’t happened.
I ran into Hunter and Dana. Hunter said I look good, should have known better…. They weren’t thinking about it and then they ran into me and like, ‘Hold up. Ok, let’s make this happen.’
Brian Ortega via ESPN MMA
Brian Ortega has already announced that it will be his last featherweight bout, and he will move up to the 155 lbs division. Ahead of his fight, Lopes has also challenged Ortega to fight to recognize the better BJJ specialist in the division. Nevertheless, given the reputation of the fighters, the hype around it is massive.
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