Brian Ortega barged past security to confront a fan moments after losing to Diego Lopes at UFC 306
16/09/2024 17:55
Things didn’t go Brian Ortega’s way this past Saturday at UFC 306 when he was dominated for three rounds by surging superstar, Diego Lopes.
Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes were originally scheduled to meet in the Octagon this past June at UFC 303 when CEO Dana White put the fight together on just two weeks’ notice.
Unfortunately, ‘T-City’ withdrew from the fight just a few hours before his scheduled walkout, making for one of the most bizarre moments in UFC history, when Lopes went on to fight Dan Ige on just a few hours’ notice.
Brian Ortega loses in possibly his last fight at featherweight
The fight, fortunately, got re-booked for the UFC’s huge spectacle at the Sphere this past Saturday, in what was a significant fight in the featherweight division.
Heading into the fight, Ortega made it clear that it was likely going to be his last fight at 145lbs as he didn’t want to wait around for the culmination of Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway, with the winner likely taking on Alexander Volkanovski next.
Despite that, the 33-year-old was hopeful of halting Lopes’ recent momentum, giving him momentum of his own heading into a new weight class.
Not long into their fight, which was being pitched as ‘The People’s Main Event’ by many, the Brazilian cracked Ortega with a huge right hand and left hook combo, momentarily dropping him.
Lopes stayed patient instead of unloading all of his energy to try and get the finish and ended up finishing the round scoring a 10-8 on one of the judges’ scorecards.
After sustaining a lot of damage, the submission specialist never really got into the fight and subsequently lost a brutal unanimous decision.
Brian Ortega barges past security to confront a fan following his loss
On his way out of the Octagon and back to the backstage area, Ortega was goaded by a fan which led to a brief confrontation between the two.
In a video that has since surfaced on social media, the fan can be heard shouting: “Tracy ain’t gonna want you anymore, Tracy is done with you.”
Ortega then quickly diverted his route and barged past a security member and under a barrier to confront the fan who was stupidly shouting from afar. It is unclear what Ortega said to the fan before he was pulled away by multiple security guards and escorted backstage.
The 33-year-old has historically been in a relationship with fellow UFC fighter, Tracy Cortez, and the two could be frequently spotted together at UFC events. Following their separation earlier last year, fans have continued to speculate as to why they are no longer together.
