5 Things You Might Not Know About Brian Ortega

Brian Ortega appears to have mastered the middle tier of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight division. Now, he must hurdle one of its most consistent contenders.

Ortega will put his undefeated record on the line against Jackson-Wink MMA export Cub Swanson in the UFC Fight Night 123 main event on Saturday at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The 26-year-old has rattled off four consecutive victories, all of them third-round finishes, since he was suspended for a positive steroid test following his organizational debut in 2014. Ortega last competed at UFC 214 on July 29, when he submitted Renato Carneiro with a guillotine choke. Now 12-0 with one no-contest -- his rear-naked choke submission on Mike de la Torre at UFC on Fox 12 was wiped from the books after he was flagged for drostanolone -- across nearly eight years of professional competition, “T-City” continues to trend in the right direction.

Ahead of the unbeaten Ortega’s high-stakes showdown with Swanson, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He has close ties to MMA’s First Family.

Ortega trains under Rorion Gracie, the oldest son of Helio Gracie and nephew of Carlos Gracie Sr. His lineage can be traced back to Mitsuyo Maeda, the “Father of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.” Ortega was promoted to the rank of black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu by Rener Gracie in December 2013.

2. Submissions are his preferred weapons of choice.

A hyperactive threat on the mat, Ortega attempts 1.6 submissions per 15 minutes of Ultimate Fighting Championship competition, according to FightMetric. That number ranks seventh on the UFC’s all-time list for featherweights, tying him with Steven Siler. He trails only Jason Knight (2.6), Chas Skelly (2.6), Charles Oliveira (2.4), Gabriel Benitez (2.1), Daniel Pineda (2.0) and Rani Yahya (1.7). Ironically, Knight and Benitez will lock horns in the UFC Fight Night 123 co-headliner.

3. He hunts the neck at all times.

The Los Angeles native has won six fights by submission, all of them via choke. He has subdued four opponents by triangle choke, one by guillotine choke and one by rear-naked choke.

4. Adversity be damned, he finds a way.

Ortega was outstruck in each of the four fights during his current winning streak: 111-65 by Carneiro, 70-62 by Clay Guida, 61-33 by Diego Brandao and 114-56 by Thiago Tavares. None of the four saw the final bell against him.

5. He struck regional gold on two occasions.

Ortega has held titles in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Respect in the Cage organizations. He took a five-round unanimous verdict from Carlos Garces to claim the RITC featherweight championship on March 12, 2011 and captured a five-round split decision from Keoni Koch to win the RFA featherweight crown on Jan. 24, 2014.