5 Defining Moments: Brian Ortega

Brian Ortega remains a key figure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s casting decisions at 145 pounds, even though he has but two wins to show for his efforts in the past six years.

The longtime featherweight contender will put divisional upstart Diego Lopes to the test in a featured UFC 306 attraction on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Ortega enters the cage having compiled an 8-3 record since he joined the UFC roster in 2014. The 33-year-old Californian last suited up at UFC Fight Night 237, where he put away “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” Season 1 winner Yair Rodriguez with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their Feb. 24 pairing.

As Ortega approaches his forthcoming encounter with Lopes in Sin City, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Solid Gold

The Rener Gracie protégé captured the Resurrection Fighting Alliance featherweight crown with a split decision over Keoni Koch in the RFA 12 headliner on Jan. 24, 2014 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. All three cageside judges scored it 49-46: Michael Bell and Ron McCarthy for Ortega, “Judo” Gene LeBell for Koch. It was a back-and-forth affair in which neither man seemed willing to give ground. Ortega was at his best in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. He cinched a triangle choke in Round 4, tightened his squeeze and cranked on Koch’s exposed arm, nearly forcing the tap. The Iowan managed to extricate himself from the maneuver but failed to turn the tide in a meaningful way in Round 5. There, Ortega completed two takedowns, piled up control time and kept his frustrated counterpart pinned to the canvas. “T-City” signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship soon after and made his Octagon debut six months later.

2. Bloodwork

The ex-RFA champion disposed of Thiago Tavares with punches in the third round of their bloody UFC Fight Night 68 featherweight showcase on June 6, 2015 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Tavares succumbed to blows 4:10 into Round 3. A replacement for the injured Zubaira Tukhugov, Ortega did much of his work from his back following Tavares takedowns. He opened a horrendous cut above the Brazilian’s right eye with repeated elbow strikes, survived his ground-and-pound and fished for various submissions, from armbars and triangle chokes to heel hooks. They hit the third round with the outcome still very much in doubt, both men doused in Tavares’ blood. Late in the frame, Ortega staggered his counterpart with a two-punch combination, followed him to the mat and climbed to full mount before unleashing a barrage of unanswered punches that forced referee Dan Miragliotta to act.

3. Point of Contention

Ortega established himself as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s clear No. 1 contender at 145 pounds when he put away the indomitable Frankie Edgar with punches in the first round of their UFC 222 co-main event on March 3, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The stoppage was called 4:44 into Round 1. Edgar pressed the issue, unleashed body-head combinations and forced the Los Angeles native onto his back foot. During a close-quarters exchange, Ortega turned the tide in an instant with a devastating standing elbow. Edgar staggered and retreated but found no refuge. Ortega floored him with a crushing right uppercut, trailed him to the canvas and closed the deal with a pair of hammerfists. It was the first stoppage loss of Edgar’s remarkable career.

4. Hail Damage

“T-City” did everything in his power to loosen Max Holloway’s grip on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight throne, but he was woefully unsuccessful in doing so. The Hawaiian retained his undisputed 145-pound title in resounding fashion, as he forced a doctor stoppage on Ortega after the fourth round of their UFC 231 headliner on Dec. 8, 2018 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The cageside physician took one look at the Californian’s grotesquely swollen left eye and declared him unfit to continue. No one in their right mind could have argued with his decision. Ortega put up considerable resistance and obliged the champion with a war of attrition, only to be met with four-, five- and six-punch combinations in response. Holloway struck with surgical precision. He connected with 166 of the 304 total strikes and 156 of the 294 significant strikes he attempted. Ortega was credited with two takedowns but could do nothing of note with either of them.

5. State of Denial

Volkanovski strengthened his grip on the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight crown, as he took a unanimous decision from “T-City” in an unforgettable UFC 266 main event on Sept. 25, 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three cageside judges scored it for the Australian: 49-46, 50-45 and 50-44. The story was told across five grueling rounds. Volkanovski let fly with powerful two- and three-punch combinations, pestered the Californian with his jab and refused to take his foot off the accelerator. Round 3 was sensational. Ortega knocked the champion off-balance with a left hand, jumped on a mounted guillotine choke and appeared to be a heartbeat or two away from finishing it. Volkanovski freed himself and moved into top position, only to find himself entangled in a triangle choke—the very maneuver from which the challenger’s nickname originates. Again, the Freestyle Fighting Gym rep managed to escape. Ferocious ground-and-pound followed, and an exhausted Ortega struggled to get to his feet once the round was complete. He threatened Volkanovski’s neck again in the fourth, where he struck for a takedown and immediately clamped down on a brabo choke. Unable to involve his legs, Ortega was forced to release it and yet again absorbed savage ground strikes for his troubles, the Aussie’s spear tipped by brutal standing-to-ground punches. Both men were visibly spent in Round 5 but never stopped firing punches at one another. Having absorbed upwards of 200 significant strikes, Ortega was barely recognizable by fight’s end.