Rener Gracie reveals Brian Ortega suffered nasty cut three weeks before UFC Mexico fight vs. Yair Rodriguez
Brian Ortega had a lot of adversity to deal with before entering the cage at UFC Fight Night 237.
Ortega (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) avenged his loss to Yair Rodriguez (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by second-round submission in this past Saturday in Mexico City.
As Bruce Buffer introduced Ortega in the octagon, “T-City” jumped up and sprained his ankle in the landing – but that’s not the only thing he had to worry about. His coach, Rener Gracie, revealed on Instagram that Ortega suffered a gash under his right eye in training, just weeks before his fight.
“Three weeks before the fight, Brian caught a nasty head butt while training @GracieUniversityHQ. Slide 2.
“It was so deep that he had to get 4 stitches on the inside and 10 on the surface. Slide 3.
“Being so close to the fight we knew that one light punch in that region would have busted it right open. It was our biggest concern (until he rolled his ankle during Round 0 ).
“The day after the stitches went in, when I texted him asking if he still wanted to fight, he and @mikesaffaie sent me a video response. Slide 4.”
Ortega battled through adversity after a rough first round in which he was dropped and badly hurt. He survived and rallied to submit Rodriguez with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2.
It was his first fight since losing to Rodriguez in July 2022 in a bout where he injured his shoulder.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.
