UFC fighter Brian Ortega recently spoke about his last-minute withdrawal from UFC303. The bout was a short-notice battle against Diego Lopes, and Ortega was required to drop a few pounds to fit into the lightweight bout. Despite being confident about losing the weight, Ortega asked for the bout to be moved from featherweight to lightweight, few days into his weight cut. However, he soon had a change of mind after arriving in Las Vegas for fight week.
“Come fight week, I felt, and I didn’t feel right,” ‘T-city said on Instagram. “I thought it was just the residual effects from the [weight] cut. I was 178 pounds when I accepted this fight on 15 days’ notice. Thursday night, after seven straight hours, I could not break 151 pounds. Later, I would find out that I was battling a fever and I could not break into the final five pounds as my body started to shut down,
“Rather than risking huge health consequences, and possibly calling the fight off, thankfully we were able to move the weight to 155. At weigh-ins, I still felt off but I was sure it would go away after I rehydrated and ate.”
The fighter struggled to cut-weight and also train, but his sickness was persistent, and his condition got worse overnight.
“Later on that night, I still felt off and was suffering from cold sweats and no sleeps. Finally, I fell asleep at 6 a.m Saturday morning and woke up at 1 p.m hoping to feel better. I could not keep any food or water down or could I stand up to use the restroom.”
When the situation persisted and worsened, Ortega had no choice but to call his manager and UFC to withdraw from the fight.
“I struggled with my own ego, got on a call with Tiki [ Ghosn] and Hunter [Campbell], and I made the decision to call off the fight. I dared to do something crazy for the love of fighting but I got sick and my body gave out on me.I want to give the fans and my opponents my best performance every time I step into the cage.”
Diego Lopes had to regain his lost pounds to compete at the lightweight and was rescheduled to fight Dan Ige, whom he defeated. Although the fighters did not get to face off, Lopes wished Ortega a speedy recovery and is eager for a rematch.
