Undefeated streaks in the world of combat sports put a weight of expectations on the fighters as a first loss would be cataclysmic. Brian Ortega was one of those fighters. He held a 13-0 streak and claimed to be under fan pressure each time he stepped into the cage.

After the streak snapped, ‘T-City’ claimed that he wanted it to happen. He said, “It was my first loss… I almost wanted to see what it would feel like also to see how I would do with letting go all that weight of the world. ‘Oh, you’re undefeated, you’re this, this’. Stop hyping me up so much, stop gassing me up so much. I just, I don’t like that pressure.” 

Ortega signed with the UFC as a 23-year-old who had seven professional wins under his belt. He avoided defeat in his next seven fights (6W, 1 NC), and beat Frankie Edgar before earning the right to fight for the featherweight title.

At UFC 231, ‘T-City’ came up against the dominant Max Holloway and suffered a broken nose and a thumb. The doctor stoppage TKO loss showed us the warrior he is as he wanted to continue despite sustaining such gruesome injuries. 

Brian Ortega feels he can fight freely upon his UFC return

With the streak done and dusted, Brian Ortega will have no pressure on him. He can come back, be himself, and have fun in his bid to claim the gold. 

The second-ranked featherweight said, “So now it’s gone, it’s like ah, uh, cool. Like now, I can go again and be free again in there. The best time is when I’m free in there and I’m having fun, that’s when I’m the most dangerous.” 

“When I’m stressed out and I’m thinking, I’m in my head and things are not going right outside the camp, and everything it’s just your mind’s not there.“

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His fight against Chan Sung Jung will offer him the chance to make a quick return to challenger status. A free Ortega could be dangerous and ‘The Korean Zombie’ will have his work cut out for him. 

What do you make of Brian Ortega’s claims of being able to be free in the octagon?