Non-Toxic Ortega Finally Drama Free Ahead Of UFC Return

Photo by Woohae Cho/Zuffa LLC

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will determine the next contender for the 145-pound title, currently held by reigning featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski, when Brian Ortega collides with Chan Sung Jung in the UFC Fight Island 6 main event this Sat. night (Oct. 17, 2020) on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

But regardless of the outcome, “T-City” already put himself in the win column with his new team, parting ways with coach James Luhrsen to hook up with the UFC veterans T.J. Dillashaw and Cub Swanson at Huntington Beach Ultimate Training Center.

“I don’t really want to go into detail about that,” Otrega told Yahoo! Sports. “I’m not in the business of making anyone look bad or trash-talking them. But there were behaviors and things that were said and things that were done after the fight that kind of made me officially realize where everyone truly stood; [and] what their intentions truly were.”

The once-beaten Ortega (14-1, 1 NC) worked his way up to a featherweight title shot, but was completely outclassed by Max Holloway in the UFC 231 pay-per-view (PPV) headliner roughly two years back and hasn’t fought since.

Unless you count his Korean bitch slap.

“I’ve had a lot of mental growth in terms of doing all this in a healthy way,” Ortega said. “Everything before was very unhealthy and very toxic. Things now are a lot smoother, a lot healthier and a lot easier and I can’t say anything else but this is the better option. I never knew this is what it could be like. And when I think of what is possible for me now, man, I’ll tell you, I can’t wait. I smile just thinking about it.”

Standing in his way is the No. 4-ranked “Korean Zombie” (16-5) who is coming off back-to-back technical knockout victories over Renato Carneiro and Frankie Edgar, the latter of which sent “The Answer” down to the bantamweight division.

Where defeat — or victory — sends Ortega remains to be seen.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Island 6 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” undercard bouts at 3 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 6 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Fight Island 6 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the complete UFC Fight Island 6 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.