Brian Ortega thinks Ilia Topuria needs to earn his way to the top.
Unbeaten in his professional MMA career, Topuria (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) emerged as a featherweight contender after a dominant submission finish of formerly undefeated Bryce Mitchell at UFC 282.
Topuria called out Ortega (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), but the two-time title challenger says Topuria needs to continue climbing the UFC rankings instead of calling for someone ranked six spots above him at featherweight.
“People like Ilia Topuria calling me out constantly, I see it now,” Ortega said in an interview with The Schmo. “Two things come to mind: One, I’ve never backed out of any fighter. I fought the best of the best. I fought the people you wish you can fight. Two is, I’m not even able to fight. So let me get back on my sh*t, let me get back to training, and then I’ll gladly humble someone if I have to.
“And once they’re on their way up to where I’m at, then you can come and join me, but you can’t use your mouth to come up here you know. This is the fighting world. You can only do so much with the mouth, and this time is you’re going to have to fight. … After, if he earns his way up, let’s do it. Anyone that my manager says we’ve got to do it with, that we’ve got to fight, then that’s what it is. I’m ready. I’ve never backed out of any fight, and I’m excited to come back.”
Ortega underwent surgery after dislocating his shoulder in a TKO loss due to injury against Yair Rodriguez last July. Prior to that, he took featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski to the brink, falling short in an all-out war at UFC 266.
