I can’t remember if I ever asked Ortega what was going through his head at UFC 266 when he clamped onto a deep guillotine choke in the center of the Octagon during his featherweight title fight against Volkanovski in September 2021. I don’t think I did, because if I had, my follow-up would have had to have been “And then what did you think when he got out of that and you locked up your signature triangle choke right after?” at which point he probably, rightfully, would have hung up on me.
Ortega had Volkanovski dead-to-rights with the guillotine choke, catching the Australian titleholder out in open space and transitioning to mount, where it felt like only a matter of seconds before Volk would have to tap or drift off to sleep and the challenger would become champion. Instead, the featherweight kingpin bucked and squirmed and wriggled his way free, only to quickly find himself forced to fend off a triangle choke, the hold that serves as the “T” in Ortega’s “T-City” nickname.
Just as he did with the guillotine, Volkanovski worked out of the triangle, promptly resetting and taking the fight to his understandably deflated opponent.
I do remember asking Rory MacDonald what he thought after landing a right hand on Robbie Lawler that would have put any mortal down, only to see Lawler smirk, adjust his gloves, and come forward like a marauder again, and my fellow Canadian said something to the effect of “it’s pretty difficult to accept.”
I reckon that’s how Ortega felt, times two.