Brian Ortega wants to face Max Holloway again.
Ortega and Holloway first met at UFC 231 in Toronto in December of 2018 where Holloway dominated the fight from start to finish and got a fourth-round TKO doctor stoppage win.
Now, as Ortega is set to fight for the belt again at UFC 266 against Alexander Volkanovski, he says if he wins, he wants to rematch Holloway.
“I see the game, I play the game,” Ortega told TMZ Sports. “I’m climbing this technical mountain, to speak. These guys are already there. They’re far beyond me, I admit that, like some technical sh*t. But when I get in there, I’m different. There’s some things you can’t teach through technique. On the spot, on the go, when I’m in your face, when I touch you, when I hit you, I make you feel different things. That’s always been my advantage, and now that I’m adding technique to it, I’m climbing, I’m climbing, I’m climbing, I’m learning. I’m only getting more dangerous.”
Although Brian Ortega says he wants to rematch Max Holloway next, he makes it clear he isn’t looking past Volkanovski. Instead, he just wants to get his lone loss back as it’s still a fight he thinks he can win.
“That would be ideal,” Ortega said. “I’m not trying to speak ahead or get past Volkanovski because he beat Max twice, so I’m not here to already start celebrating but that would be ideal. I’m a better person, better fighter than I was when I fought him and watching his last fight, so is he. You always want that. As a fighter, as a competitor, you always want to make that sh*t square or to say, ‘Yo dog, you know what? You legit got the best of me. Good sh*t.’”
In order for Ortega to even get the rematch, he will need to beat Volkanovski at UFC 266.