Brian Ortega got to see Alexander Volkanovski at the top of his game.
He isn’t so sure that was the case when Volkanovski relinquished the title to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 this past weekend.
Ortega dropped a five-round verdict to Volkanovski in their featherweight title tilt at UFC 266 in September 2021. While Ortega absorbed more than 200 significant strikes in that bout, he also placed Volkanovski in serious peril with with submission attempts in the third and fourth frames. Neither was successful, which allowed Volkanovski to take a clear victory on the scorecards.