UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski has laid into Brian Ortega and labeled him as a “spoilt little brat.”
Volkanovski’s comments come as the build-up to his next title defense continues through the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). After his original bout with Ortega was taken off the UFC 260 card due to a positive Covid-19 test from the Australian, the pair became coaches for the return of TUF. The rivals will meet inside the Octagon to settle their differences at September’s UFC 266 pay-per-view.
Despite the pair beginning the show on fairly good terms, their relationship has continued to deteriorate with every episode that passes by.
During an interview with Nine Wide World of Sports, Volkanovski revealed what’s made their feud become so personal in recent weeks. The Australian certainly didn’t hold back in his scathing assessment of Ortega and his coaches.
“Ortega is a spoilt little brat. He’s high maintenance. He thinks it’s all about him. Him and some of his coaches were very arrogant. There was no bad blood going into it, even our first fight of the year. Going into this one there is a bit of bad blood.”
Volkanovski went on to criticize “T-City” for his poor punctuality and attitude towards his coaching role on TUF.
“I got to see this during the time we spent. But now I get to watch the reality show and the little comments they make in the episode. Some things he said during our interaction and the things he would say on the camera afterwards. There’s a lot that you don’t see in the episodes and there was plenty of time to figure out who Ortega was. He’s not the guy I originally thought he was. He’s a little diva.”
The 145-pound champ continued to slam Ortega, revealing how the number one contender and his team acted after securing wins on the show.
“The way he paraded around the house when they won their fight. His coach would constantly take shots at my team. ‘Your boys can’t win’, all that stuff. ‘Your boys are useless’. Right in front of them. I said ‘mate are you trying to have a go at me? These guys are here, it’s their dream’. Then the tables turned when we won back-to-back and then they went quiet,” Volkanovski revealed. “You don’t see me parading around, that’s the type of guy I am. We might be winning but there are guys in there, their dreams are crushed. I’m not going to parade in front of them. I’m not the kind of guy to rub it in.”
Volkanovski finished by stating that, although he holds more animosity towards his upcoming opponent than he has before in the UFC, having this kind of anger before a fight makes him more dangerous.
“I’ve been angry with opponents before and it’s worked out even better for me. I went out there and really showed I had something to prove before the UFC. I’m really calculated and won’t let this stuff get to me. It’s not like I’m going to be uncontrollable. It just makes me want to train harder. It’s not just that, you want to finish all your fights. But sometimes you need to strategize. I’ve proved when I go out there and do what I need to do to win no one can beat me. I’m the best in the world. Sometimes you’ve got to make a statement. And that’s what I’m going to do,” said Volkanovski.
Alongside the blockbuster featherweight headliner between Volkanovski and Ortega are a number of great matchups on what is a stacked PPV card. In the other championship fight at the event, Valentina Shevchenko will look to make her sixth flyweight title defense when she enters the Octagon with “Lucky” Lauren Murphy.
Elsewhere, Nick Diaz will finally return to action in a rematch 17 years in the making against Robbie Lawler. Like his brother Nate’s last bout, Diaz’s fight with “Ruthless” will be a five-round affair. With an Octagon-shaking heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Jessica Andrade’s second fight at 125 pounds, also set for the event, UFC 266 looks like a must-watch card.
Do you think Brian Ortega can dethrone Alexander Volkanovski when the pair finally clash at UFC 266?
