Brian Ortega made a surprise move when he said he was willing to wait for Alex Volkanovski's return to rematch with Ilya Topuria, rather than demand an immediate title after his win over Yair Rodriguez this weekend.
Ortega battled through a freak ankle injury before the fight to score a gritty third-round win over Rodriguez in Mexico City.
If hometown hero Rodriguez wins, he will likely be thrust into a title fight with Topuria later this year.
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This fight could be in Spain, as UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the company is indeed planning to make its debut there following Topuria's win over Volkanovski.
After back-to-back losses, Ortega's future is unclear, but the elite featherweight champion says he is willing to wait for Volkanovski to return before considering a Topuria fight.
“Fulk was a great champion, and for people to kick him while he's here right now, I find it disrespectful to everything he's done,” Ortega said after his gritty win over Rodriguez.
“But if he decides he doesn't want to fight and wants to relax, then I'm very happy to go to Spain.”
Volkanovski called for the rematch immediately after his loss to Topuria, saying his dominance as champion and willingness to step in late and save UFC 294 by fighting lightweight Islam Makhachev meant he deserved a rematch immediately.
Ortega's win over the weekend only adds to Volkanovski's argument.
With back-to-back losses, Rodriguez is out of the title picture for the time being.
Meanwhile, lightweight Max Holloway takes on Justin Gaethje for the BMF title at UFC 300.
Ortega's win was impressive, but before that he had lost two in a row, including a 2021 title loss to Volkanovski.
With the exception of Faulk, Movsar Evloev is the second-highest ranked featherweight, a rising star, but he has hardly set the world alight with his eight straight UFC victories.
Arnold Allen and Josh Emmett are both top-10 featherweight boxers, but are either coming off losses or rebuilding their title credentials.
Aljamain Sterling could also be an option, as the former bantamweight champion moves up to 145 pounds to face Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.
Sterling was looking forward to competing for the title with Volkanovski in Australia later this year if the Australian beats Topuria.
Ortega's night was almost over before his fight with Rodriguez even began. As Bruce Buffer was introducing him to the Mexico City crowd, Ortega jumped into the air, spraining his ankle when he landed.
He was on the verge of elimination in the first round, but rebounded in the second round and choked out “El Pantera” in the third round.
“I jumped and when I landed, I injured my ankle,” Ortega said. “I looked at my coach and said, ‘Bro, this is bad,’ and he was just telling me to get into the zone.
“When they were introducing him (Rodriguez), I was trying to bend my ankle and I said: 'Come on bro, work, don't let me down now, we have five rounds.'
“I'd be lying if I said the panic didn't set in for some time.
“What an idiot. You move your ankle in front of 22,000 people and you're in Mexico and everyone supports him.
“I fought some demons over there.”
The win was Ortega's first since October 2020, as the American lost a one-sided title fight to Volkanovski the following year.
