Brian Ortega may be finally inching closer to featherweight title, as he confirms the news of offer for cage appearance against Max Holloway as part of UFC 231 on December 8 in Toronto. The two featherweight stars were scheduled to lock horns in UFC 226, which was held in July this year.
However, Max Holloway was suffering from concussion like symptoms and was pulled away from the fight card.
Now, the 27-year-old artist has confirmed to media that he has been offered a bout against Holloway in December. While speaking at UFC Lincoln backstage, T-City went on to add that while there was an offer, there isn’t anything on the paper yet.
This is what the American-Mexican artist had to say,
“Nothing is official. Trust me, I’m always the kind of guy, until I sign the contract I’m the first one to post it out there. But there’s ears in the game who hear things and yeah, it’s true. We got the call and they offered us to fight in December. I said yes. I think they’re pushing for Toronto, so December is up in the air and I’m sure Max received the same call. I haven’t heard anything from his side yet, but it looks like it’s going to happen.”
He expressed his concern that a possible fight between two featherweights may give rise to some animosity. According to the grey-eyed fighter,
“‘Fight of the Year’, to top the year off. You have two guys — I’ve said this before, I’m a fan of him as well, I’m a fan of the sport. This is the fight. He fought Aldo, I fought Frankie, we fought two veterans, right? And now we have two hungry guys who are young at the top of the game.”
Ortega said that Max Holloway’s absence from the ring stopped him from competing for an interim fight in UFC 226.
“I want the real title. I can’t express it enough that I want to fight for the real title. Interim title, from what I’ve seen — you know what I’m saying, I don’t have to say much words. People get it and then they take it away from them in a month. I just don’t want to be that person. I have nothing against them who earned their shot and took a fight on short notice, all my respect to them.”
The two-division fighter closed the conversation by saying that he was looking for an accolade that would be his. He didn’t want to settle for something that could be taken away, especially by UFC. If someone was going to snatch away his title, then it had to be an opponent.
Whom do you think would make his mark in Brian Ortega vs. Max Holloway as part of UFC 231? Share your views here.
