Editorial: Brian Ortega Ready To Provide New Blood To Featherweight Division

Brian Ortega scored himself a career-defining victory Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 123, submitting Cub Swanson in the second round of their main event fight from Fresno, California.

With the MMA world tuning in, Ortega picked up his fifth consecutive finish and improved to 13-0 in his career.

A quick look at the recent run of victories for “T-City” shows why he just might be the kind of contender the UFC needs to pair up against UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway.

While some might argue that Frankie Edgar is the deserving No. 1 contender especially considering he was lined up to challenge Holloway before a training injury knocked him from the bout, Ortega could follow in the footsteps of the likes of reigning UFC female bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and former titleholder Cody Garbrandt and push his way to the front of the pack.

Ortega joined Holloway and Edgar as fighters to submit Swanson in recent years after handing Moicano his first loss in 12 career fights. When he finished Guida via strikes back in 2016, Ortega became only the second such fighter – with Chad Mendes being the first – to end Guida like that in 51 career bouts.

The only blemish on his resume comes from a bout in 2014 that served as his official Octagon debut when he defeated Mike De La Torre via submission only to fail the post-fight drug test and have the result overturned to a no-contest. Ortega spent almost a year on the sidelines after that, returning in 2015 with a “Fight of the Night” performance in a third round TKO victory vs. Thiago Tavares.

He submitted Diego Brandao in 2016 with a triangle choke in the third round, as well, becoming just the second fighter to force the former Ultimate Fighter winner to tap.

So while you might not hear as much of a an uprising if Edgar is given the next crack at Holloway, you should continue to be on the lookout for Ortega as he continues his climb to the top.