Brian Ortega is looking forward to finishing his story with Diego Lopes.
This Saturday, Ortega takes on Lopes in the featured main card fight of UFC 306. The two were originally supposed to face off in a featherweight bout at UFC 303 in June, however, Ortega struggled with his weight cut and the bout was changed to a lightweight contest the day before the event. Then, on the day of the event, Ortega was forced out of the event due to illness and instead, Lopes faced Dan Ige on just a few hours’ notice before winning a unanimous decision.
On Wednesday, Ortega spoke with reporters at UFC 306 media day, where he recounted how he felt that night watching Lopes compete.
“I was staying in the hotel room and we [watched the fights on TV],” Ortega explained. “I was laying in bed and I saw his fight and I was like, ‘Damn, that should have been me.’ But I also thought, ‘Well, come on, bro. Had that been you that night, you probably wouldn’t have won, the way you were feeling.’ Let’s just be honest. But it was a bittersweet moment, knowing I was there, almost made the weight, and we went through what we went through.
“I didn’t really want to pull out, but you have to make a choice. We made peace with it and that was it. But yeah, I had those feelings that we could have got this done with and moved on to the next.”
Brian Ortega discusses falling off UFC 303, finishing story with Diego Lopes at UFC 306 - MMA Fighting
