Brian Ortega has is known as one of the best grapplers in the UFC and he was able to bounce back to the top of the featherweight division with a huge win over Yair Rodriguez at UFC Mexico City on February 24th, 2024. It was a big moment for Ortega for several reasons, not least of all because it was his first win in almost four years now. Ortega was very active during the beginning of his career, racking up a perfect 8-0 record on the regional MMA circuit before being called up to the UFC and extending his fantastic run to 14-0 (1). Since suffering his first professional loss in a title-fight against Max Holloway back in 2018 Ortega has been much less active though, only fighting 4 more times since then.
He bounced back from that loss with a decision win over Chan Sung Jung that earned him another title-shot, but another loss to then-champion Alexander Volkanovski sent him to the back of the queue. Disaster struck in his next fight against Yair Rodriguez, when he suffered a shoulder injury and lost the fight by TKO as a result. This fight at UFC Mexico City was a chance at redemption for Brian Ortega, as he was given the rematch with Yair Rodriguez. With Rodriguez coming off an unsuccessful title-shot of his own, it was the ideal chance for Ortega to prove that he deserves another shot at gold.
There were a lot of questions surrounding Ortega before the fight with Rodriguez began and by the time the first round finished, it appeared as though he wasn’t going to be able to answer them positively. He was dropped twice by Rodriguez during the round and was already behind on the judge’s scorecards, but he came back with a vengeance in the second. Ortega was able to use his elite grappling to dominate the round and he made it clear that there was everything to play for in the third and final round. He came out just as quickly in the third and was able to take Rodriguez down, submitting with an arm-triangle choke less than a minute after the round began.
UFC Mexico City Full Results
Brandon Royval defeats Brandon Moreno via Decision – Split (48-47, 46-49, 48-47)
Brian Ortega defeats Yair Rodriguez via Submission – Arm-triangle Choke (Round 3, 0:58)
Daniel Zellhuber defeats Francisco Prado via Decision – Unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Yazmin Jauregui defeats Sam Hughes via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Manuel Torres defeats Chris Duncan via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 1, 1:46)
Preliminary Card
Raoni Barcelos defeats Cristian Quinonez via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 3, 2:04)
Jesus Santos Aguilar defeats Mateus Mendonca via Decision – Split (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Edgar Chairez defeats Daniel Lacerda via Submission – Triangle Choke (Round 1, 2:17)
Fares Ziam defeats Claudio Puelles via Decision – Split (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Ronaldo Rodriguez defeats Denys Bondar via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 2, 4:59)
Felipe dos Santos defeats Victor Altamarino via Decision – Split (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Muhammad Naimov defeats Erik Silva via TKO – Leg Injury (Round 1, 0:44)
The full UFC Mexico City event, including Brian Ortega returning with a submission win over Yair Rodriguez, is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.