Jeremy Stephens has a bone to pick with Brian Ortega.
The main event of UFC Mexico City came to an abrupt end after Yair Rodriguez accidentally raked Jeremy Stephens in the eye 15 seconds into the fight. Stephens was unable to continue, and the fight was ruled a no contest. Meanwhile, Brian Ortega was in the audience shouting that Jeremy Stephens is a “puto,” which is a derogatory term in Spanish used as an attack on someone’s manhood. Jeremy Stephens finds irony in Ortega’s defamation, given that, according to Stephens, Ortega chose not to fight him at the very event:
“Brian Ortega, the guy’s ducked out of four or five fights with me, I heard he was there calling me a puto, but yet he’s the one who backed out of a fight with me there in Mexico City,” Stephens said on a recent installment of the Believe You Me Podcast. “We could have been the main event. So for him to call me a bitch? Come on, who’s the real bitch? These are facts that I’m stating. He’s been cageside where I’ve knocked guys out. So we can run it back.”
Both fighters have other fights booked at the moment, so a bout between Stephens and Ortega does not seem possible for 2019. Jeremy Stephens has had his fight with Yair Rodriguez rebooked for UFC Boston scheduled for October 18, 2019, and Brian Ortega will be headlining UFC Fight Night 165 in Busan, South Korea this December. In his most recent bout, Ortega unsuccessfully challenged Max Holloway for the featherweight championship.
What are your thoughts on Brian Ortega calling Jeremy Stephens a “puto” at UFC Mexico City?
