Brian Ortega channeled his inner demons ahead of his last Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight title fight at UFC 266 in September 2021.
That year’s International Fight Week saw the pair of season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) coaches, Ortega, and the Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, settle their differences. Along with a crazy fight and insane guillotine attempt from Ortega in the middle of the fight, “T-City’s” walkout was an immediate talking point.
The perennial 145-pound contender walked out to a remixed version of the hit movie franchise theme song for The Purge, in Las Vegas, Nevada’s T-Mobile Arena. Considering the nature of the franchise and its subject matter, Ortega’s inspiration for the walkout was perfectly aligned.
“That walkout was — you want the story behind the walkout?” Ortega hesitated at UFC 303 media day. “At that time, I was living in an apartment. I had left the house and everything when I separated [with my partner]. There was this neighbor upstairs who just every hour it was like 2:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning, 4:00 in the morning, I’m like, ‘Dude, you guys, go to sleep. What’s going on? Come on now. I got a fight I gotta train for. I got a world title [to win], what’re you guys doing?’
“Then something — I was watching some reels or something and The Purge song came on, right?” he continued. “I started fantasizing, not the best thing, but like if The Purge was real, first thing I’m doing is going upstairs (laughs). ‘Cause I’m not a snitch, right, and I’m not a complainer, but dude, I even hit up the landlord like, ‘Yo, can you tell ‘em to be quiet, please?’ I know they’ve snitched on me before because I’ve been playing with my kids a little too rough. Like, I was running around one time and I was like, ‘I’m gonna kill you!’ and the kids were screaming, so they were about to call the cops because they thought I was gonna kill my kids. It wasn’t that crazy, that’s how we play around, but I never said nothing.”
Ortega, 33, added that the noisy neighbors only got worse after he complained, strengthening his anger towards them. In the end, Volkanovski was too much, winning their clash by unanimous decision.
“If The Purge was real, I would just go upstairs and handle business,” Ortega said. “I want to kill my neighbors — at that time.”
Ortega takes on Diego Lopes in UFC 303’s co-main event this weekend (Sat., June 29, 2024).
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’McGREGOR-FREE MAIN EVENT! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sat., June 29, 2024, without its biggest box office draw, Conor McGregor, after the Irish sports star delayed the “greatest comeback of all-time” because he broke his pinky toe (seriously). Coming the rescue once again is Light Heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, agreeing to rematch former division champion, Jiri Prochazka, in the pay-per-view (PPV) main event. In UFC 303’s co-headliner, top-ranked Featherweight contender, Brian Ortega, will attempt to halt the rise of red-hot surging 145-pound prospect, Diego Lopes. UFC 303’s PPV main card (see it here) will also feature Anthony Smith vs. Roman Dolidze and Ian Garry vs. Michael “Venom” Page and so much more. It’s must-watch action! UFC 303 start time scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (Prelims) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV).
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 303 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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