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 last October on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
As a result, Ortega will move forward and fight defending champion Alexander Volkanovski in early 2021. While no official date or location has been established at this time, UFC President Dana White told BT Sport the bout is “probably” going down in February.
Prior to burying “The Korean Zombie,” Ortega (15-1, 1 NC) suffered the first defeat of his professional career in a lopsided loss to Max 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.
As for Volkanovski (22-1), who sounds relieved to have a fresh opponent, “The Great” captured the featherweight crown from Holloway at UFC 245 back in late 2019, then defended it against “Blessed” in a closely-contested rematch at UFC 251 the following summer.
See you in February … we hope.