Brian Ortega went away for nearly two years, rebuilt his whole game, and made it look utterly easy against one of the most feared strikers in the featherweight division, getting a unanimous decision against “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-sung in Sunday’s UFC Fight Island 6 headliner.
The 29-year-old Mexican-American (15-1, one no contest) worked his way to 50-45 scorecards against Jung (16-6) from all three judges in Abu Dhabi.
Having had the stuffing knocked out of him in a one-sided featherweight title fight against Max Holloway (21-6) in December 2018, Ortega now gets another crack – this time at Alex Volkanovski (22-1) – and looks an entirely different, and much upgraded, prospect.
“I got one message. All my homies that rolled with me, even after my last one. I love you. For all you that counted me out, learn to count [expletive],” Ortega told Daniel Cormier in his post-fight interview in the Octagon inside Flash Forum.
Ortega had shown tremendous heart in that beat down by Holloway, but the doctor did him a favour and stopped the fight before he could fall on his shield in the fifth round.
But not before he had already absorbed the kind of damage that changes fighters – “Blessed” landed a record 290 significant strikes at UFC 231.
Then came a series of surgeries, and that ACL injury that ruled him out of the original fight date in Busan, Korea last December, and it’s been a long road back for Ortega.
Throw in the bad blood that heated this rivalry up this year, with Ortega slapping Jung’s friend, the hip hop artist Jay Park, and there was a recipe for Ortega to get caught up in the emotion of it all.
But instead of “Zombie” dominating on the feet it was Ortega from the first round quite brilliantly, and there was a playful slap and a hug from Jung as they embraced after the fight.
“We got to work man,” Ortega added. “Everyone thought I took some time off. I had surgeries everything, got right back to work. I needed to become a new guy and get better at MMA, everything – wrestling, striking, I did the best I could to mix it up and show everyone I’m back.”
Jung had been surging on his own comeback after a long lay-off with big TKO wins against Renato Moicano and former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar in that rescheduled Busan main event.
But Ortega did not immediately look for takedowns was happy to stand up and pick the 33-year-old apart. He knocked him down in the first round, and should’ve knocked him out in the second with a spinning elbow.
Somehow the “Zombie” survived, and kept coming forward, but Ortega monstered him for the rest of the fight, showing a much smarter fight IQ than before and taking him down to the mat before cutting him in the fifth round.
Australia’s Volkanovski was watching intently, tweeting away on social media, and the title shot has already been promised by UFC president Dana White.
“Finally, we have some direction in this division,” wrote the champ. “Get in there and take the No 1 spot … that’s all I wanted!”
“We’re gonna find out if I’m ready,” Ortega said. “In this game, you take chances. You don’t grow in the comfort zone. Alex Volkanovski, the champ, the thought of it’s exciting. Ready or not, I’m [expletive] coming.”