For four rounds, Brian Ortega took everything the champ could throw at him and kept marching forward. It took the word of the cageside physician and referee to stop “T-City” on Saturday night, but in the aftermath he agreed with their ruling.
Ortega suffered the first-ever defeat of his professional MMA career over the weekend when he challenged Max Holloway for the featherweight belt in the main event at UFC 231. Ortega actually came into the title fight a slight betting favorite, thanks to his sensational knockout of Frankie Edgar earlier this year and possibly due to Holloway’s chronic issues with making the featherweight limit.