Brian Ortega and Dana White are trying to sort things out.
Ortega was set to take on Max Holloway for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 226. That didn’t happen as Holloway pulled out of the bout with concussion-like symptoms. Ortega was offered a bout with Jeremy Stephens, but Ortega wasn’t comfortable taking the fight on three days notice.
“T-City” recently appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show to discuss the initial conversation he had with White and whether or not he will be compensated for showing up at UFC 226 (via MMAMania.com):
“We had our talk. We agreed to disagree pretty much, I told him if I was going to be compensated for anything, you know, if I would get anything. I told him I showed up, I did everything, my weight was good, did the open workouts, the media and he said, ‘No.” So that was that. I was pretty bummed out, heartbroken. After that, we had another meeting yesterday. We talked and he said he was just pissed off. He then said we’d talk again this week and figure things out. So right now, I don’t know what ‘figure things out’ means.”
Stephens blasted Ortega for not taking the fight. The status of Holloway is unknown. He has now pulled out of three title bouts in a row. Depending on the situation, an interim title bout may very well be on the horizon, but nothing has been confirmed.
Ortega was last seen in action against Frankie Edgar back in March. “T-City” knocked out Edgar in the first round to earn his featherweight title opportunity. He’s garnered a professional mixed martial arts record 14-0, 1 NC. He has yet to go the distance under the UFC banner.
Do you think Brian Ortega should be paid his show money for UFC 226?
