Who Handed Brian Ortega the Only Defeat in His MMA Career?

Brian Ortega is one of the best featherweight fighters in the world and is all set to challenge for the UFC title next. Ortega has been a professional MMA fighter since 2010 and has an incredible MMA record of (15-1-1). ‘T-City’ is well known for his time in the UFC. However, the fighter has also been a part of RFA, where he was the former Featherweight champion.

Ortega began his MMA journey on April 25, 2010, as he faced John Sassone at the Gladiator Challenge: Maximum Force event. ‘T-City’ won his debut fight convincingly as he defeated Sassone via a 1st round submission. From then on, Ortega did not look back and acquired an 8 fight win streak before joining the UFC.

Brian Ortega UFC debut and journey

Ortega was all set to make his UFC debut against Diego Brandao on May 31, 2014, at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 finale. However, as Brandao had to withdraw from the event during an injury, that did not happen. Eventually, Ortega made his much-awaited UFC debut against Mike De La Torre at UFC on Fox 12 on July 26, 2014.

‘T-City’ won the fight comfortably as he defeated La Torre via a 1st round submission. However, the victory was later turned into a No-Contest as Ortega tested positive for drostanolone during the post-fight screening. Following this, they fined Ortega $2,500 and also suspended him for 9 months.

On his return, Ortega faced Thiago Tavares and in a highly entertaining fight and defeated him via TKO in the 3rd round. This epic clash garnered Fight of the Night bonuses for both fighters. In his 3rd UFC fight, Ortega finally faced the extremely talented Diego Brandao. In one of the toughest fights of his career, Ortega struggled against Brandao in the first 2 rounds.

However, Ortega dug deep and in the end, won the fight via submission in the 3rd round. Ortega faced Clay Guida next and in an entertaining fight defeated ‘The Carpenter’ via a 3rd round KO. ‘T-City’ then took almost a year off from the UFC and returned to action on July 29, 2017. On his return, Ortega faced Renato Moicano in one of the best fights of the night and won via a 3rd round submission.

Brian Ortega’s journey towards the UFC Title and his 1st MMA loss

Since his UFC debut, Ortega had fought incredibly well, and everyone believed he had all the traits to become the UFC champion. ‘T-City’ also kept on giving incredible performances as he defeated Cub Swanson in an incredible match-up at UFC Fight Night 123. Ortega won that fight with a second-round submission and increased his UFC win-streak to 5.

Ortega then faced Frankie Edgar on March 3, 2018, at the UFC 222 event. ‘T-City’ defeated Edgar via a first-round KO and with this victory earned a shot at the UFC title. Ortega and Holloway were set to compete at the UFC 226 event. However, Holloway pulled from the fight due to ‘concussion-like symptoms.

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The two fighters finally faced each other at the UFC 231 event on December 8, 2018. Both fighters performed admirably throughout the fight. In the end, though, Holloway won the fight via TKO (doctors stoppage). This was Ortega’s first-ever MMA loss, and he was visibly upset after the same.

Brian Ortega vs Alexander Volkanovski

Following his loss to Holloway at UFC 231, Ortega stayed away from the UFC for almost 8 months. The fighter then returned to face Chan Sung Jung at the UFC Fight Island 6 event. ‘T-City’ showed his class in the next fight and won the fight comfortably via a unanimous decision.

Now, Ortega is set to challenge for the UFC title yet again as he will face Alexander Volkanovski at the UFC 266 event. Leading up to the fight, both fighters have taken various digs at each other. Both Volkanovski and Ortega are also the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 29 and that has given an extra edge to their rivalry.

Ortega and Volkanovski are both outstanding fighters. Therefore, while it is difficult to predict the outcome of such an epic clash. One thing is sure, that when these two fighters meet inside the Octagon, it surely will be an entertaining affair.

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