“I dared to do something crazy…”

Two-time UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega has broken his silence on the same-day fight cancellation that kept him from competing at T-Mobile Arena last weekend.

After a successful return from injury in Mexico last February, where he avenged his 2022 loss to Yair Rodriguez via submission, Ortega has begun preparing for a divisional move.

With opportunities limited at featherweight, “T-City” set his sights on the lightweight division. But when Saturday’s UFC 303 pay-per-view descended into crisis, Ortega agreed to be among those who saved the day, accepting an extremely late co-main event against Diego Lopes.

Despite Ortega’s preparation for the 155-pound weight class, the fight was scheduled for featherweight. But that changed on weigh-in day when it was revealed the longtime contender couldn’t drop below 151 pounds.

With Lopes already weighing in under the expected lightweight class, the Mexico-based Brazilian was back on the scales just hours before making the trip after Ortega was forced to withdraw due to injury and replaced by Dan Ige.

Nearly a week later, “T-City” has spoken out and discussed the difficult circumstances that led to his late withdrawal…

Ortega agreed to fight 32 pounds over the limit and vowed to ‘fix things’

In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram, Ortega admitted he felt “bad” throughout fight week — something UFC CEO Dana White noted during his appearance at the post-event press conference Saturday night.

The veteran featherweight also revealed that he accepted the short-term assignment 32 pounds over the featherweight limit, leaving many wondering why he and his team agreed to a 145-pound matchup.

“The week of the fight I wasn’t feeling great, I thought it was just the residual effects of the cut. I weighed 178 pounds when I accepted this fight on 15 days notice,” Ortega wrote. “Thursday night, after 7 hours straight, I couldn’t get over 151 pounds. I later found out I was battling 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 possibly canceling 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 that it would pass after rehydrating and eating. Later that night I still didn’t feel great, suffering from cold sweats and lack of sleep. Finally, I fell asleep at 6 a.m. on Saturday and woke up at 1 p.m. hoping to feel better. I couldn’t keep food or water down or get up to go to the bathroom,” Ortega continued. “I fought my own ego, had a call with Tiki and Hunter and 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.”

Ortega concluded by also highlighting the tumultuous two-day stretch Lopes went through, culminating in the rising featherweight taking on and defeating Ige on just hours’ notice.

“T-City” has promised to “fix things” with the Mexico-based Brazilian.

“Diego Lopes, I can only imagine what happened on your end, you have nothing but my respect and I’m going to talk to Hunter and Tiki and make this right for you,” Ortega said. “To the UFC, to Dana, to Hunter and to the fans, thank you for supporting me.”

It remains to be seen how Ortega will accomplish that, but perhaps agreeing to a rescheduled clash with the 29-year-old at Sphere’s Noche UFC event on September 14 could be a start.