A renowned ex-referee has an important question for Brian Ortega.
Ortega was in action this past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Shanghai. It was a big spot for “T-City,” as he was facing a former UFC champion in Aljamain Sterling. It was also an opportunity for Ortega to rebound after losing his UFC 306 clash with Diego Lopes.
The final result of the five-round UFC Shanghai co-headliner was Ortega dropping a unanimous decision to Sterling. During a new episode of the “Weighing In” podcast, “Big” John McCarthy wondered if Ortega’s heart is still in the fight game (via MMAJunkie.com).
“Brian, what are you thinking?” McCarthy said on his “Weighing In” podcast. “Are you truly, really into this? I can tell you, when Brian was young, and I knew him before he was ever in the UFC, and did his fights and would talk to him, he would always talk about, ‘I love fighting … I love fighting.’ That’s great, you need to. This has got to be what you want to do. And then, even in his interviews: ‘I love fighting.’ OK, then why are you not putting the things into it that are going to make you the success that you were earlier in your career? Because there seems to be something askew.
“There seems to be something that is changing, and it’s not just the competition, because he’s faced great competition for a long time now. When you’re facing the Frankie Edgars, the Max Holloways, you’re going to get wins and losses. They don’t come easy. I’m not taking anything away from what Aljamain did, but there were moments in this fight where you’re looking at Brian and you’re saying, ‘There’s your opportunity – go. There’s your opening – go,’ and he’s not. When you are not capable of seeing those moments and pulling the trigger, it becomes a very difficult thing to win the fight. Right now, I just don’t see that same offensive aggression from him.”
Ortega has now gone 1-4 in his last five bouts. He hasn’t been able to put together a winning streak since the days when he was undefeated. Some have even called for “T-City” to move up to the lightweight division following his gaunt appearance during the weigh-ins prior to the Sterling fight, which had to be contested at a catchweight.