UFC 306 will take place this Saturday at Sphere in Las Vegas. The featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopez will headline the event.
The showdown is expected to be an exciting match as it is an important fight for Ortega. The former two-time featherweight challenger recently faced Yair Rodriguez in a rematch in February. After multiple punches and an injury, Ortega was able to beat his opponent by submitting him.
Although the fighter was able to snap back from his two-fight losing streak, he still has to prove himself in the upcoming fight. UFC commentator Daniel Cormier warned the fighter against taking a beatdown at Noche UFC.
“I think this fight is going to be very telling as to where Brian Ortega is in his career,” Cormier said. “If you can’t beat these young up-and-comers, it becomes difficult to stay where you’ve lived your entire career. Ortega has lived at the top of the card for as long as we can remember.
“If he loses to a guy like Lopes — a guy who’s on a run, a guy who’s making his way to the top of the division — it becomes a bit of a changing of the guard,” Cormier continued. “But I think that happened in Mexico City. Brian Ortega was supposed to go lose to Yair Rodríguez. He got the job done and he looked very impressive in doing so. So this is a massive opportunity. … Ortega wins this fight, he’s gonna be right on the shortlist of guys that can compete for the belt.”
Ortega is a +142 underdog against Lopes, who’s a favorite. He opened up as a -125 favorite over Lopes for their initially scheduled bout at UFC 303 in July before he withdrew due to illness. Lopes faced four-hour notice replacement Dan Ige instead, defeating him by unanimous decision.
