SUMMARY
- Brian Ortega finished Yair Rodriguez in an arm triangle at UFC Mexico City.
- Yair Rodirguez almost finished Brian Ortega in the 1st round with burtal striking.
UFC Mexico City featured an exciting main event between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez. Brian Ortega made his octagon return after a 2-year layoff, while Rodriguez was coming off a brutal loss to Alexander Volkanovski.
The winner of this fight had an opportunity to fight the UFC featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, down the line. And after an exciting back and forth, Brian Ortega secured a submission finish in round 3.
Following the fight, Ortega aimed for the title shot against Ilia Topuria in a potential UFC PPV in Spain. However, it’s needless to say that Ilia is a nightmare matchup for T-City, and his performance against Yair Rodriguez did not change MMA fans’ minds.
Brian Ortega almost got finished by Yair Rodriguez in round 1
Yair Rodriguez nearly got the finish in round 1 of the rematch against Brian Ortega. Yair Rodriguez looked phenomenal with his boxing, while Ortega struggled on the feet.
Brian Ortega 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KIiicMhots
— UFC Türkiye 🇹🇷 (@ufc_turkiye) February 25, 2024
It was certainly unusual to see Rodriguez not implement leg kicks against Ortega as he usually does. Rodriguez was able to land some potential fight-ending blows against Ortega and secure a knockdown in round 1. However, T-City survived the early onslaught and made a comeback in rounds 2 and 3 with his ground game to secure his first win in the last two years.
It was not a good fight for both Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega, as UFC fans did not seem impressed with their performances after the fight.
UFC fans claim Ilia Topuria will dominate Brian Ortega
Ilia Topuria is still unbeaten after facing the greatest UFC featherweight of all time, Alexander Volkanovski. Volk is certainly one of the greatest strikers UFC has ever seen. Topuria managed to finish Volk in the 2nd round. So fans can only imagine how Topuria vs. Ortega would play out, especially after watching Ortega struggle against Rodriguez in the boxing department.
This is not the first time Ortega has struggled against strikers in UFC. Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski outclassed Ortega in striking during his last two title fights. And fans feel Topuria would do the same to Ortega if they end up fighting next after UFC Mexico City.
Fans tweeted:
Ortega boxing hasn’t improved since the Max fight
Yair still has no wrestling since the Edgar fight
Ilia will be champ for like 5 years 😭 pic.twitter.com/gwoQuFYoTh
— ᕋOO⅃ 📼🕳️ (@Grapegone) February 25, 2024
With a performance like that and they wonder why Illia said what he said 😭
— THIZZ UCHIHA ™ (@ThizzUchiha) February 25, 2024
Ilia Topuria could be one of the best if he stay champion for a long time.
He could beat
Max, Ortega, Yair, rematch with Josh maybe, Aljo if he is good in feather, Movsar and more. pic.twitter.com/6ow3CNJ6SF— Rd_Amir (@Amir_prv141) February 25, 2024
Yair not improving his wrestling in all that time is wild.
— FRee (@FReeDuMBorDEATH) February 25, 2024
Brian Ortega after ilia topuria hits him with a right hand #UFCMexico pic.twitter.com/HtKC9O5HBg
— MMABoxingCasual (@MMABoxingCasual) February 25, 2024
What do you think about a potential matchup between Brian Ortega and Ilia Topuria? Does Ortega even deserve a title shot against Topuria over Max Holloway, who is coming off an impressive win against The Korean Zombie and Arnold Allen?