While Brian
Ortega (25-6) already respected upcoming opponent Diego Lopes
(16-3), it has only increased because of what the Brazilian did at
UFC
303.
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Ortega was preparing for a move up to lightweight when he accepted
a featherweight matchup against Lopes on two weeks’ notice at UFC
303 this past June. The cut was too much for Ortega and it was
announced that the fight fell through after the card had already
commenced. In a miraculous turn of events, Dan Ige stepped
in to fight Lopes on four hours’ notice. Lopes earned a hard fought
unanimous decision win over the gritty “50K.”
Ortega really admires Lopes for accepting a fight on four hours’
notice at a catchweight of 165 pounds.
“The way [Diego
Lopes] approaches things, it’s very admirable,” Ortega told
UFC.com. “To be able to step in on short
notice, last-minute, like four hours—just everything that he had to
go through, he earned my respect. Not that it wasn’t there before,
but I had more of admirable attitude towards what he’s done and
what he’s doing.”
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The matchup between Ortega and ranked Lopes has been remade for
UFC
306 on Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas. For the
Mexican-American Ortega, it will be a unique experience fighting on
the card which is also being billed as Noche UFC Riyadh Season, the
promotion’ yearly tribute to Mexico.
“You already know it’s going to be crazy,” Ortega said. “Just the
fact that the fights are at Sphere, that’s one thing. And then you
add Mexican Independence Day, which I wasn’t here [last year], but
from what I heard, it went off. It was crazy. The crowd, the energy
was wild. Hopefully, that can be duplicated this year.”
Ortega was far removed from the title picture after his second
failed gold bid at UFC 266 against Alexander
Volkanovski in 2021. He then suffered a freak shoulder injury
in a loss against Yair
Rodriguez the following year. Ortega returned to action after
nearly two years in a rematch against Rodriguez at UFC Mexico City
this past February. After visibly injuring his ankle right before
the fight started, Ortega pulled off a third-round submission win
in vintage fashion.
Meanwhile, Lopes has rebounded from a foiled debut against Movsar
Evloev with a four-fight winning streak that includes three
first-round finishes.