Brian Ortega weighs in on title fight with Alexander Volkanovski and why he likes the Featherweight Champion

Brian Ortega has no beef whatsoever with his next opponent Alexander Volkanovski. After defeating The Korean Zombie in a one-sided five-round fight, Brian Ortega secured another title shot and put his beef with Chan Sung Jung behind.

Instead of Max Holloway, however, he will be facing the Australian Champion Alexander Volkanovski. In the post-fight press conference, Brian Ortega revealed that he has studied the Champion a lot and considers him "similar" in a way (via MMA Fighting):

“I study him a lot. He’s very similar at picking you apart and going in there and being strategic and moving left, moving right and picking you apart. Putting pressure and getting some takedowns and letting you get back up. He’s a very interesting guy. He’s really good at playing a point system and winning rounds."

Brian Ortega called it an "interesting" fight and stated that he had no fear of being taken down:

“I’d have to look at him again. I watched his fights with Max [Holloway]. It’s different. I feel like what he has to bring right off the bat, he’s kind of similar. On the takedowns, obviously I don’t really care too much about getting taken down. You can have them. It’s interesting. I would love a fight with him. It would be interesting.”

With regard to any personal beef, there is none. Brian Ortega said that Alexander Volkanovski reached out to him after the UFC 248 incident with Jay Park and T-City considers him to be a cool person:

“He’s a cool dude. I like him,” Ortega said. “After that incident happened over there in Vegas right after the world hated me and some Korean pop singers don’t like me, he came up to me and he’s like ‘what’s up man, what happened with that and everything?’ He talked to me and it was cool.

Can the new and improved Brian Ortega shut out Alexander Volkanovski?

As we've seen in the last two fights with Max Holloway, Alexander Volkanovski is an expert at shutting out fighters - especially the high-volume kind. Stylistically, this makes for an interesting fight.

While many would normally predict Alexander Volkanovski to win a five-round clinic, Brian Ortega's recent performance showcased new and improved skill and ability, making him a tough match-up for anyone.