Brian Ortega Injury: How Did the UFC Star Dislocate His Shoulder?

Former featherweight title contender Brian Ortega will be back in action at UFC 303 for a second time after defeating Yair Rodriguez in his last outing, and avenging his 2022 loss in the process. This time, however, he’s going to butt heads with the up-and-coming, Diego Lopes, who’s on a hot streak of three consecutive wins.

Brian Ortega will come into the fight on June 29 with a lot of confidence. This is because his win over Yair Rodriguez was an important one given that the former interim champion had injured him in their first meeting. Ahead of their rematch, let us look back at the details of that injury that made Ortega sit out for almost two years.

What was Brian Ortega’s injury?

Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega was shaping up to be an exciting bout in 2022. ‘El Pantera’ was landing hard, clean punches from the start, but Ortega held his own and managed to take Rodriguez down in the latter half of the first round.

Unfortunately, while jostling with Rodriguez on the ground, Ortega dislocated his left shoulder and couldn’t continue. This led to Ortega losing via TKO to the #3 ranked featherweight. Next month, the now 33-year-old underwent the third shoulder surgery of his life.

Providing an update on his surgery and recovery, Ortega revealed that while he had previously gone to “dark places” when recovering from his previous surgeries, he was optimistic and grateful this time around and was determined to come back stronger, and that’s what he did earlier this year.

Fully rested and recovered after having sat out all of 2023 due to his injuries, Brian Ortega finished ‘El Pantera’ tonight with a submission win. While that win was important for him to get his self-belief back, there was also a time when ‘T-City’ nearly retired from the sport altogether due to his injuries.

‘T-City’ admits recent injuries took a toll on him

Brian Ortega sat out most of 2019, too, after taking heavy damage in his UFC 231 loss to Max Holloway in 2018 and admitted that the numerous injuries he had suffered recently had him questioning whether he should quit the sport altogether due to the massive toll it had taken on his body.

READ MORE: Who is Brian Ortega’s Girlfriend/Wife? What Happened Between Him and Tracy Cortez?

He felt that having kids had changed his perspective, and he asked himself if he was “moving already like I’m 60 years old,” how he would be able to move when he actually turned 60. Ortega feared the toll his degenerating health would take on his family especially as he got up in age. However, despite these setbacks, the California native is determined to continue fighting.

“The thoughts of retirement only arose after I listened to my feelings, not my logic – when I listened to my feelings. I got in depression or sadness took over because all I want to do is fight,”  Ortega said. As we inch closer to his second 2024 against Diego Lopes, do you think Brian Ortega can emerge victorious? Drop your comments below.

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