Brian Ortega gave it his all to be ready in time for UFC 303. Unfortunately, his body just couldn’t keep up.
Ortega agreed to face Diego Lopez on short notice as part of changes to the card at UFC 303. The bout was originally scheduled at 145 pounds, but when Ortega began to struggle with making weight, he and his opponent agreed to move the bout to lightweight. Eventually, on the day of the fight, Ortega came down with a fever and was forced to withdraw just hours before the co-main event at UFC 303.
On Wednesday, T-City released a statement addressing the situation.
“Coming into game week, I was feeling a bit under-performing; [weight] “I cut weight. I weighed 178 pounds when I accepted this fight 15 days ago,” Ortega wrote on Instagram. “I fought 7 hours straight on Thursday night and just couldn’t get under 151. I found out later I was battling a fever and my body started to slow down and I just couldn’t make the last 5 pounds.”
“Rather than take a major hit to my health and risk having to withdraw from the fight, I was fortunate to be able to cut down to 155 pounds. I still felt sick at the weigh-in but was confident that with some fluids and food it would pass. Later that night I still felt sick, in a cold sweat and unable to sleep. I finally fell asleep at 6am on Saturday morning and woke up at 1pm hoping to feel better. I had no food or water left in my mouth and couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom.
“I fought my ego and called Tiki. [Ghosn] Hunter [Campbell]”I decided to withdraw from the match. I did something crazy for the love of martial arts, but I got sick and my body couldn’t move. Every time I step into the cage, I want to give my best performance to my fans and my opponent.”
After Ortega withdrew from the bout, Dan Ige stepped in just hours later, saving the co-headline act in near-unprecedented fashion at UFC 303. Lopes won by unanimous decision to cap off a memorable night.
It’s unclear whether UFC will reschedule the Lopez vs. Ortega bout, but the former featherweight title challenger paid tribute to his potential opponent.
“Diego Lopez, I can only imagine what happened on your side. I have nothing but respect for you. I will be speaking with Hunter and Tiki to make this right for you,” Ortega wrote. “To the UFC, Dana
[White]Thank you to all the Hunters and fans for supporting me.”
