Brian Ortega Admits to Being “Flawed”, in New Statement Re: Slapping Incident at UFC 248

After releasing a brief apology to Chan Sung Jung’s friend and translator, Jay Park, for slapping the rapper at UFC 248, Brian Ortega has followed up with a longer statement regarding the altercation.

Ortega admits to being “flawed”

In addition to the action that took place in the cage at UFC 248 last weekend, Ortega made headlines, for slapping Park who was also in attendance at the event. The incident was prompted by an online exchange Ortega had with Park a little while ago, after the latter had reported Jung accused him of ducking him.

The fighters were booked to fight at UFC Busan in December; however, Ortega had to drop out due to a knee injury. Ortega had accused Park of misrepresenting what Jung said and going out of his way to stir up drama. Park, however, denied that accusation.

Well, following the incident, Ortega apologized to Park in a brief statement, and he also called for a bout with Jung. Since then, however, the noted finisher shared out a much more comprehensive apology:

My pride is my enemy, and over the last couple days I’ve been battling it. I hope you understand that I’m human and I’m flawed, in more ways than one. In the beginning, I justified my actions based on the series of events that led up to Saturday, but I now realize that what I did was wrong overall. My parents taught me dignity and respect, and I didn’t show that. My coaches have always taught me that martial arts are to empower the weak against the strong. On Saturday, that didn’t happen.

When I make a mistake, I own the consequences. But in this case the negativity that I’ve caused has spilled over to the people closest to me, and that’s how I know that what I did was truly wrong. I’m sorry to you guys and my family.

I apologize to Jay Park for my actions and the shit storm that followed, you deserve to enjoy MMA from outside the octagon just like any other fan. I apologize to Korean Zombie for dragging your friend into an equation that should start and end with the fighters.

Could we see Ortega and “The Korean Zombie” fight next?

So, it will be interesting to see whether Ortega and Jung end up fighting. “The Korean Zombie” was clearly not happy with Ortega over what transpired at UFC 248, and he blasted the featherweight online. But, Jung has been pushing for a title shot, following his stoppage win over Frankie Edgar.

That said, many believe the UFC is going to book a rematch between the new 145 champ Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. So, Ortega vs. TKZ could indeed get tabled.