Ortega Will ‘Ruin Every Contender,’ Force ‘Matador’ Title Shot

Ilia Topuria, at least in his mind, has already defeated Alex Volkanovski at UFC 298 and booked himself against Conor McGregor for a mega-money super fight later this year. That means current 145-pound contenders like Brian Ortega will have to stay thirsty until further notice.

The rebounding “T-City” — no stranger to Volkanovski title fights — has other plans.

“You have to win the belt for that to happen, that was my first thought,” Ortega told SHAK MMA. “Let’s say you do win and you’re not going to give us a shot, then I’m going to make sure to ruin every contender. Simple as that. One, you have to win it. Two, I’m going to take all the contenders away from you… If you don’t want to fight us then I’m going to take all your people.”

Ortega can start with his Yair Rodriguez co-headliner at UFC Mexico City later this month.

The UFC 298 pay-per-view (PPV) card takes place this Sat. night (Feb. 17, 2024) at Honda Center in Anaheim. Volkanovski, last seen falling to Islam Makhachev in the lightweight division, is currently the odds-on betting favorite for this weekend’s featherweight title defense — but not by much.

For the rest of the UFC 298 fight card and PPV lineup click here.