Brian Ortega reveals he fell 'unconscious for about 30 minutes' from UFC Shanghai weight-cut disaster
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Brian Ortega's latest octagon outing ended in a loss, and it sounded like it could have turned out even worse.
By the end of the recent UFC Shanghai co-main event, Ortega walked out with a disappointing decision loss to Aljamain Sterling and his fourth defeat in his past five fights. That result capped off a brutal week for Ortega in which weight-cut management issues forced his fight with Sterling to be moved up from featherweight to lightweight, and according to Ortega, he actually lost consciousness attempting to hit the 145-pound limit.
Ortega posted a video on social media Monday detailing his ordeal.
"On Thursday, we hit the first one," Ortega said. "We got down to '51. Second one, later on, I decided to jump the gun on that one at 12. We cut from midnight all the way until 8 in the morning, cutting weight the entire time. I realized I had 1.7 to go still. We were confused on how my body wasn't really pouring out the water, why it was just holding it in, but no matter what we have to get this weight off so we did.
"We went downstairs at about 8, 8-something, decided to cut more weight. Put the plastics on, Sweet Sweat, the whole thing. I did 20 minutes on the bike. Once I went off, I went unconscious. I was unconscious for about 30 minutes. During that time, they were putting ice on me. They took all my clothes off and left me in boxers. Woke up in the ER."
Despite the hospital visit, Ortega and his team still planned to go through with the fight, but it was clear at the official weigh-ins before fight day that something was off with the two-time featherweight title challenger.
"If you saw the weigh-ins, you obviously know that I looked delirious and just coming off of being 30 minutes unconscious in the tunnel, what they say," Ortega said. "After that, weighed in. We figured if I didn't feel good or if something was seriously off that we would call the fight. No matter who you are, your health comes first, always stand by that.
"Aljamain came to me, and he talked to me, and he said, 'Hey man, I heard what happened.' I said, 'I was under for 30 minutes, I ain't going to lie to you. We have the same manager, I know he told you. I'm here, I'm trying and I'm going to show up.' He said, 'They already have a replacement fighter, don't worry about it.' But I told him, 'No, I don't want to waste your time.' And I showed up."
With the bout moved up to 155 pounds, Ortega successfully made weight and then spent as much time as possible eating, rehydrating, and recovering. However, it was anything but a smooth ride from there, and Ortega still saw experienced several signs suggesting he should bow out of the contest.
"I didn't feel good," Ortega said. "I wanted to call it off. I got up and just walking outside I almost passed out and fainted. Everything in my body's telling me not to fight.
"First and foremost, I decided to fight for my family. That's my job, to show up and do what I do for them. I fought for my family. Secondly, I fought for you guys. You guys have always shown me love, you guys have always supported me, no matter what. It would be unfair to not show up for you guys, regardless of excuses, you just show up and do what you've got to do."
Ortega believes that traveling may have affected how his body retained water and that the weight cut was also affected by a considerable time zone change, but added he takes full responsibility for what happened and that he is taking the setback as a learning lesson.
He also gave full credit to Sterling for implementing a game plan that gave Ortega few paths to victory.
"I was afraid, I'm not going to lie," Ortega said. "Being unconscious for 30 minutes and then fighting the next day, but I decided to go for it, still. The outcome was what the outcome was.
"Good job to Aljo for a game plan well played. He was slick with his movement, very smart point fighter, smart fight on his end. I'm more of a fan of having wars. Call me crazy, but that's what I was hoping for, a good grappling war, but it didn't happen, neither did the victory."
Watch Ortega's full Instagram statement below.
