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Brian Ortega cemented himself as the top featherweight contender by outclassing fellow 145-pound title hopeful Chan Sung Jung as part of the UFC Fight Island 6 main event earlier this month on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
As a result, Ortega will move forward and fight reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in early 2021. While no official date or location has been established at this time, “T-City” is expecting to make his return in February.
“That’s a hell of a fight (against Volkanovski),” Ortega told UFC Unfiltered (transcribed by Adam Martin). “He said February. From what I’ve seen on the Internet, Volkanovski said he’ll be ready in February. So we’ll see what happens, exactly right. We’ll see when he talks to Dana (White) or whoever he talks to and we’ll see what date comes up, or where and when, that’s the big question.”
Volkanovski (22-1) captured the featherweight crown from former division kingpin Max Holloway at UFC 245 back in late 2019, then defended it against “Blessed” in a closely-contested rematch at UFC 251 the following summer.
Prior to burying “The Korean Zombie,” Ortega (15-1, 1 NC) suffered the first defeat of his professional career in a lopsided loss to Holloway at UFC 231, but the improvement on display against Jung has most of the MMA fanbase convinced “T-City” can give the champ a run for his money.
Time will tell.