Brian Ortega Breaks Silence After UFC 303 Withdrawal: ‘I Struggled With My Own Ego’

Brian Ortega helped make history at UFC 303…by not fighting.

International Fight Week 2024 was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Seemingly cursed since early June, the original headliner between Conor McGregor And Michael Chandler fell through and had a domino effect on the rest of the card lineup.

The removal of the fight led not only to a new main event, but also a new co-main event and a light heavyweight support matchup on the main card. Originally, Ortega was scheduled to face a rising featherweight contender, Diego LopesThings got worse after Ortega failed to make the 145-pound limit, which caused the fight to be moved up to 155 pounds. On the day of the fight, he fell ill and was forced out of the fight, leading to the unprecedented substitution of Dan Ige with four hours notice.

Ortega spoke about the saga of what happened on Instagram today (Wednesday, July 3, 2024).

I feel much better, thanks for all the love. The week of the fight I didn’t feel great and thought it was just the residual effects of the cut. I weighed in at 178 pounds when I accepted this fight on 15 days notice. By Thursday night after 7 hours straight I couldn’t get over 151 pounds. Later I fought saying I had a fever and couldn’t get over the remaining 5 pounds because my body was starting to shut down. Rather than risk huge health consequences and cancel the fight, thankfully we were able to move the weight up to 155 pounds. At the weigh in I still didn’t feel great but I was confident it would pass after I rehydrated and ate. Later that night I still didn’t feel great and was suffering from cold sweats and lack of sleep. Finally, I fell asleep at 6am on Saturday morning and woke up at 1pm hoping to feel better. I couldn’t keep any food or water down or get up to go to the bathroom.

I struggled with my own ego, I had a call with Tiki (Ghosn) And Hunter (Campbell)and I made the decision to cancel the fight. I dared to do something crazy for the love of fighting, but I got sick and my body gave out on me. I want to give the fans and my opponents my best performance every time I step in the cage. Diego Lopes I can only imagine what happened on your end, you have nothing but my respect and I will talk to Hunter and Tiki and make this right for you. To the UFC, Dana, Hunter and the fans, thank you for supporting me.

Ortega, 33, last fought when he won redemption against Yair Rodriguez in their third-round arm wrestling rematch at UFC Mexico City in February 2024 (watch highlights). After the events of UFC 303, we may see the two-time featherweight title challenger move up to lightweight sooner than expected.

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