Brian Ortega says he had no issue with the cageside doctor’s decision to stop his title fight against UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway at the end of the fourth round.
Brian Ortega says he had no issue with when his fight against Max Holloway was stopped.
Ortega met Holloway, the UFC featherweight champion, in the main event of UFC 231 on Saturday night in Toronto. The jiu-jitsu ace hung tough throughout the back-and-forth affair, contributing to what is considered a “Fight of the Year” candidate. But Holloway proved to be too much for “T-City;” after dishing out a record-setting amount of significant strikes, the doctor ended the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds.
Ortega posted a statement about the fight Sunday on Instagram, saying that he agreed with the doctor’s decision.
“Doctor stopped it and I agree,” Ortega wrote. “Broken nose and a broken thumb I was willing to die in there. Last night was Max’s night. I’ll be back.”
Ortega did not include a timetable for when he would like to get back into the cage. (Though it should be assumed that that won’t be for a while, considering the damage he took.)
Ortega was undefeated heading into his first UFC title fight. His biggest win came earlier this year, when he handed former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar his first career stoppage loss.
With the win, Holloway retained his 145-pound title for the second time. He won it in June 2017 against Jose Aldo, then defended it against Aldo in a rematch in December of that year.
UFC 231 took place at Scotiabank Arena. In the event’s co-headliner, Valentina Shevchenko won the vacant women’s flyweight belt with a one-sided decision over former strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk.