Brian Ortega plans to be undeniable, but he may run into an unexpected roadblock in pursuit of reaching the pinnacle. Ortega is hoping that a strong performance against Yair Rodriguez will get him back in featherweight title contention after two previously failed bids against Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.
However, Ilia Topuria has claimed he would not give the current crop of featherweight contenders a title shot if he beats Volkanovski at UFC 298. Ortega is ready to take a page out of Holloway's playbook if that comes to fruition.
Topuria enters UFC 298 on Saturday as a very believable threat to the champion's rule. Topuria previously said he would not grant a title shot to Ortega, Holloway or Yair Rodriguez, three challengers Volkanovski already defeated in his four-plus years as champion.
"They can go and retire," Topuria told "The MMA Hour" on Feb. 6. "I'm never going to give them a chance to fight for the title."
Ortega could become a top contender with a strong showing against Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night in Mexico City on Feb. 24. "T-City" won't sit around and complain if Topuria becomes a champion unwilling to take on all challengers. Ortega will instead take inspiration from his former rival Holloway and eliminate anyone else from the equation.
"You have to win the belt for that to happen. That was my first thought," Ortega told CBS Sports on Wednesday. "Let's say you do win and you're not going to give us a shot, then I'm going to make sure to ruin every contender. Simple as that. One, you have to win it. Two, I'm going to take all the contenders away from you... If you don't want to fight us then I'm going to take all your people."
Check out the full interview with Brian Ortega below.
Ortega closely relates to Topuria ahead of Saturday. Both were labeled the next big things heading into their first UFC title shots. Ortega and Topuria were dynamic, undefeated 14-0 fighters stepping up to face arguably the greatest featherweights in history, Holloway and Volkanovski, respectively. Ortega fell far short of the mark in his first UFC title fight.
"There's always the question of, 'Is he ready or is he not?' Skillfully he's looked good against the people he's faced," Ortega said. "He's technically sound. He's the full package when it comes to striking, wrestling, jiu-jitsu. You can't look at him and say he has one full weakness that's exploitable. But I do believe that guys such as Volk have a different type of level of chess.
"That's why these fights are amazing to watch. You have someone confident, someone who is ready as if he's already the champ and defended it three times. And then you have the guy who has been at the top of the mountain and is kicking everyone down. It's a good fight. A lot of questions will be answered after this weekend but it's hard to go against Volk."
