What the hell happened to Brian Ortega?
Not for the first time in his UFC career, “T-City” showed up to the cage unrecognizable. Unlike in the transformational Chan Sung Jung victory, however, this was a decidedly negative change. After failing to make weight and allegedly taking a quick ride to the hospital, Ortega showed up looking downright drowsy for his UFC Shanghai co-main event bout opposite Aljamain Sterling.
In a vacuum, losing to “Funkmaster” is not such an embarrassing outcome. He’s a former champion and bonafide Top 10 Featherweight in the world. The issue is that Ortega showed up listless, barely able to move his feet. For much of 25 minutes, he followed Sterling around the Octagon and walked into jabs with nary a reaction. He certainly didn’t adjust or change his strategy in any significant way. When his corner implored him to open up and chase the finish in the later rounds, Ortega’s face remained passive.
He didn’t look like a fighter who particularly cared.
It’s important when discussing Ortega’s decline to remember the fighter he used to be. In 2018, he was a 27-year-old undefeated title challenger who won his first six UFC fights via stoppage. He was taught a painful boxing lesson by Max Holloway, and that punishment alone could explain Ortega’s early skid, except for the fact that he returned better than ever in his next bout versus “The Korean Zombie!”
A year later, Ortega very nearly strangled a prime Alexander Volkanovski.
Since then, sadly, it’s all been pretty grim. He’s averaged just one fight per year and has lost three of his last four. He didn’t look particularly good in any of those fights, getting absolutely battered even in the lone victory over Yair Rodriguez. The weight cut issues arose last year as well, cancelling his first scheduled match up against Diego Lopes at the very last second.
34 years of age and 22 fights is too early for “T-City” to be looking this disinterested. He’s still tough as a $2 steak and has incredible natural talent, but the it factor has left him. Ortega was never a fighter with process — he lost plenty of rounds even at his best — but he used to be able to turn it on like few others. Ortega at his peak was one of the absolute best we’ve ever seen at capitalizing on his opponent’s mistakes, sensing fatigue or weakness and then pouncing like a jaguar.
He had the chance to do so last night. Sterling was fatigued in round five despite dictating the pace of the entire fight, and Ortega did clip him with a couple good right hands. Finding the finish in such situations is historically his best asset, but last night, he didn’t come particularly close to the comeback. In fact, Sterling finished the fight in top position, smashing Ortega’s face in with ground strikes and taking back the round despite Ortega’s one good moment.
Perhaps the weight cut is killing him. Maybe a move to Lightweight will rejuvenate Ortega’s career and motivate him to perform again. Until we see some kind of positive sign, however, it’s hard not to feel like Ortega is finished as an elite fighter and doesn’t seem bothered that his prime only lasted for about six fights.
For complete UFC Shanghai results and play-by-play, click here.
