Brian Ortega Says He Could Have Replaced Tony Ferguson
The mixed martial arts world was shaken up yesterday (April 1, 2018) when it was announced that Tony Ferguson had suffered an injury, forcing his highly anticipated UFC 223 main event bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov to be scrapped for a fourth time.
Upon that news, however, UFC Dana White revealed that featherweight champion Max Holloway would be stepping up on extremely short notice to take on Nurmagomedov for the undisputed 155-pound title.
And apparently Holloway wasn’t the only one White reached out to, as No. 1-ranked 145-pound contender Brian Ortega took to social media to claim that he too had been offered the fight:
“For the record, Dana called me yesterday to see if I would step in against Khabib since Max hadn’t responded yet,” Ortega wrote on Twitter. “I said yes. Eventually, Max replied and Dana gave him the fight. If all goes according to plan, I’ll get my turn – at both of them.”
Ortega, who’s coming off of a brutal stoppage victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 last month in Las Vegas, was expected to face Holloway next, but that fight will obviously be put on hold. Prior to fighting Edgar, Ortega had won five-straight UFC bouts.
Holloway, meanwhile, was actually scheduled to take on Edgar at UFC 222, but an injury forced him off the card. However, he’s riding an incredible 12-fight winning streak and has often discussed a move up in weight to lightweight.
As far as Nurmagomedov goes, “The Eagle” owns a perfect 25-0 professional record and is widely considered to be one of the best 115 pounders in the world.
UFC 223 will take place this Saturday night (April 7, 2018) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
