Brian Ortega has a different type of motivation going into UFC 303 on Saturday.
Ortega (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was not originally scheduled to fight at the event. But then the phone rang with an opportunity to fight Diego Lopes on 17 days’ notice in a featherweight bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), as part of the restructured International Fight Week lineup in the aftermath of Conor McGregor’s injury withdrawal.
Ortega revealed he was planning for a move up to the lightweight division for a Sept. 14 fight at UFC 306 before being offered the fight with Lopes (23-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC). “T-City” is coming off a third-round submission of Yair Rodriguez in February and hasn’t fought more than once in a calendar year since 2018, so stepping into this spot doesn’t exactly jive with his history.
