dude needs to retire
Brian Ortega insisted to make the walk at UFC Shanghai despite his body telling him not to.
mmajunkie.usatoday.com
Brian Ortega insisted to make the walk at UFC Shanghai despite his body telling him not to.
Ortega (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) was originally scheduled to face Aljamain Sterling (20-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC) in a featherweight bout in the UFC Fight Night 257 co-headliner last month, but the fight was moved to 155 pounds after Ortega struggled to make weight. He lost the five-round fight by unanimous decision.
The former title challenger looked visibly gaunt during the weigh-ins, where it was later revealed that he was hospitalized. Ortega confirmed that he woke up in the E.R. after passing out.
"I cut weight on Thursday. We hit the first one – we got down to '51," Ortega said on his Instagram. "Second one, later on I decided to jump the gun on that one at 12, but we cut from midnight all the way to 8 in the morning, cutting weight the entire time. I realized I had 1.7 to go still. I was confused on how my body wasn't really pouring out the water, why it was just holding it in, but no matter what, we have to get this weight off so we did. So we went downstairs, ate something, decided to cut more weight, put the plastics on, sweet sweat. I hit 20 minutes on the bike. Once I got off, I went unconscious. I was unconscious for about 30 minutes.
"During that time, they were putting ice on me, they took all my clothes off, they left me in boxers. I woke up in the E.R., I ripped everything off, I couldn't really speak, translate to them. I was like, if they don't take everything off, I'm going to take it off myself. We knew we had time limit to get to the weigh-ins, otherwise I could not fight. If you saw the weigh-ins, you obviously know I looked delirious, and just coming off 30 minutes of being unconscious in the tunnel. After that, weighed in. We figured if I didn't feel good or if something was seriously off, we would call the fight."
A replacement opponent was already set in motion for Sterling, but Ortega was adamant on fighting in his compromised form. He explained why.
He (Sterling) said, 'they already have a replacement fighter, don't worry about it,' but I told him, 'Nah, I don't want to waste your time,' and I showed up," Ortega said. "We ate food, we rehydrated the entire day. I didn't feel good, I wanted to call it off. I got up, and just walking outside I almost passed out and fainted. Everything in my body is telling me not to fight. First and foremost I decided to fight for my family. That's my job, to show up and do what I do for them. Secondly, I fought for you guys."
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they should book conor vs jones for the july event for openweight championship
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