Brian Ortega predicts Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria, reacts to latter's comment about contenders 

Former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega recently shared his prediction for the upcoming fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria, who are set to face each other at UFC 298 this Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Volkanovski is set to defend his featherweight title for the sixth time, while Topuria aims to become the first Spanish fighter to win UFC gold and the first fighter to hand 'The Great' a loss at 145 pounds.

During a recent interview with CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri on his YouTube channel, SHAK MMA, Ortega dissected UFC 298's main event. He said:

''Skillfully, yes, he's [Topuria] good against the people he has faced, technically sound, full package when it comes to striking, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, everything. You can't look at him and say he has one full weakness that's exploited, he doesn't have that.''

'T-City' then shared his prediction, adding:

''A lot of questions will be answered after this weekend but it's hard to go against Volk.''

Catch Brian Ortega's comments below (7:43):

Ortega notably took on Volkanovski for the 145-pound title at UFC 266 in 2021, falling short via unanimous decision despite coming close to submitting the Australian champion multiple times.

'T-City' returns to action later this month, in a rematch against fellow former title challenger Yair Rodriguez at UFC Mexico City.

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Brian Ortega fires back at Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria foresees himself winning at UFC 298 this weekend and doesn't expect former title challengers Max Holloway, Yair Rodriguez, or Brian Ortega to get a shot at his belt.

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Topuria explained that with all three fighters having already lost to the reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski, they don't deserve a title shot:

"How [would Holloway be a big fight for me]? I'm gonna beat the guy who whooped his **s three times. How? It doesn't make any sense. Max, Yair, Brian Ortega, all of them, they can go and retire. I'm never going to give them the chance to fight for the title. Never.''

Catch Ilia Topuria's comments below (12:41):

In response, Brian Ortega had this to say in the aforementioned interview with SHAK MMA (6:29):

''You have to win the belt for that to happen. That was my first thought. Let's say you do win and you're not going to give us a shot, then I'm going to make sure to ruin every contender. Simple as that.''