It is no surprise that Brian Ortega has one of the best ground games in the UFC. ‘T-City’, after all, is trained under Rener Gracie, a member of the legendary Gracie clan who is the progenitors of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So promising did Gracie find Ortega that he paid for and took over the responsibility of his training when the Mexican-American’s parents didn’t have the money to have him continue his training.

The grappling maestro didn’t disappoint the faith put in him by his teacher as he went undefeated in his first eight fights in the California regional circuit en route to a promotional title. His impressive run has continued in the world’s most competitive MMA promotion, with the only losses in his career coming against reigning UFC champions and because of a freak injury.

Brian Ortega’s first MMA loss against Max Holloway

Brian Ortega was signed to the UFC in 2014 following his undefeated run and RFA title win. Unlike most fighters, who struggle on their UFC debut, the Mexican-American seemed like he belonged on MMA’s biggest stage as he defeated Mike de la Torre with a rear naked choke hold in the first round. However, the bout was changed to a no-contest as Ortega tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone. This was followed by a suspension of nine months, but the fighter was quick to make a comeback as he recorded six consecutive wins, all of them finishes, over the next four years that brought him to a title shot.

At UFC 231 in 2018, Brian Ortega faced then-featherweight champion Max Holloway for the latter’s 145-pound title. However, Holloway, at his destructive best, dismantled Ortega over the next four rounds with his legendary striking, until the doctor decided to put a stop to the bout because of Ortega having suffered a lot of damage.

After the bout, Holloway, one of the friendliest and most laidback fighters, embraced Ortega, and declared in the post-fight octagon interview: “Brian, I love you… “We should be friends, probably. We can be friends for sure.” Meanwhile, this was not the only loss in Ortega’s UFC career.

The 5 round war between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega

Bloodied and bruised by Holloway, Ortega came back with a vengeance in his next fight. He dominated Chang Sung Jung ‘The Korean Zombie’ for five rounds, dropping him multiple times en route to winning a one-sided unanimous decision at their Fight Night clash in 2020. Meanwhile, the featherweight title had changed hands with Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski. Due to his dominant performance, Ortega was straightaway booked to fight ‘Volk’ for the latter’s first title fight against someone not named Max Holloway.

Volkanovski’s durability and toughness proved too good for Ortega, who did look close to victory at one point. In the third round, ‘T-City’ was able to drop Volkanovski and took the fight where he liked it- to the ground. The Mexican-American secured a seemingly solid guillotine choke on Volkanovski, but the champion somehow wrested Ortega away, to almost everyone, including ‘T-City’s surprise.

A few moments later, however, Ortega had another submission chance as he caught the Australian in one of his signature triangle arm chokes. But, Volkanovski got away yet again and took the fight back to the feet, where he proceeded to dominate the BJJ black belt and win a unanimous decision. In a statement released after his loss, ‘T-City’ revealed that he had broken his orbital bone and bruised a few ribs from the punishment.

How did ‘T-City’ lose to Yair Rodriguez?

Ortega faced another setback in his very next fight. So far, he had only lost to reigning champions in the UFC. However, this changed in his first, UFC on ABC 3 clash against his friend and Mexican featherweight star Yair Rodriguez, who was promised a shot at the title if he won. And he did win, but wasn’t granted a title shot because of the peculiar circumstances that the victory came under.

Ortega took Rodriguez down to the ground in the very first round, but a few moments later, he flopped onto the canvas, clutching his right shoulder. The referee waved off the bout soon after. “When I went to the floor, I went for the armbar, and I was trapping him really tight with his arm. And I think in the moment he was trying to get the arm out from there, I saw him doing a face and was like, OK, something happened,” Rodriguez told reporters after their fight.

Turns out, Ortega had popped his shoulder while wrangling with the Mexican on the ground.“I don’t know how this happened. I wanted to keep going… I tried to clear the leg and then my arm just popped out,” ‘T-City’ said. Ortega came back with a vengeance in their immediate rematch two years later, and won another submission victory after catching Rodriguez in a triangle arm choke in the third round of their ‘Fight of the Night’ clash.

He is not gearing up to face Diego Lopes at UFC 303 on a short notice? Do you think the 33-year-old would be able to take his winning streak to two in the UFC? Drop your predictions for the card in the comments below.