Brian Ortega admits he needs to change his style to be UFC champion: 'I have to be smart'

B. Ortega admits he needs to be smarter in fights. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

The next opponent of Brian ortega in the UFC he will be the dangerous one Korean zombie, on October 18th, in Abu Dhabi, but the fighter is already targeting the featherweight champion (65,8kg). The intention is valid, as Dana White himself confirmed that the winner of the duel will face Alexander Volkanovsky. However, Ortega knows that, to dethrone the Australian, he will have to make changes.

In an interview with the North American website MMA fighting, 'T-City' confessed that the defeat to Max Holloway, in 2018, opened his eyes and showed that his style is good for the fans, but bad for his own career, as it is necessary to fight strategically to be successful in the sport.

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“It's hard not to stop and watch when there's a featherweight fight, because I see myself facing everyone, whether it's the top guys, the promising fighters or even the unknown guys. I've been through that. I started from nothing and grew. I definitely think about Volkanovski and see him as an interesting challenge. Can I fight technically or give a battle? If I get technical with it and it doesn't work, I would have to create problems. For much of my career, this worked, but Holloway exposed that I am not a technical athlete. I had to be patient, reevaluate my game and I don't like that. There are warriors and fighters in the UFC. I have more of a warrior mentality, of not giving up, of testing the will of others. Either I will end you or you will end me, but you need to have some intelligence, because many fighters know how to play chess. They are not warriors and that was a lesson for me,” Ortega said.

The jiu-jitsu specialist considers Volkanovski an intelligent fighter, just like Holloway, and compared him to Georges St-Pierre, for not fighting to impress but to win.

“Volkanovski is an intelligent fighter. He knows what he needs to do to win points and the rounds. If he can't win the fast way, he does what he has to do to win the fight. Fans may not like it, say he's not a real fighter, but many say he's an intelligent fighter similar to GSP. He won the fights, but it was boring”, he concluded.

the last appearance of Brian ortega happened in December 2018, when he was defeated by Max Holloway in a fight valid for the featherweight belt and voted the best of the night. In second place in the category ranking, 'T-City' will have a new chance to be a challenger, if it overcomes Chan sung jung, the famous Korean zombie.