Watch the full fight between Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega! This epic showdown delivered non-stop action, with both fighters putting on an incredible performance. Who came out on top? Watch till the end to see the result!
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00:00Round one of a possible three in the UFC featherweight division, currently reigned by Juan Ilya Topuria.
00:22Alright, here we go. Number three versus number twelve in the featherweight division.
00:25Bryan Ortega in black, Diego Lopez in green. I'm anxious.
00:30It's...
00:42Ortega cut down from 178 to 153. Back in June was unable to helpfully... Oh! Huge only connection by Lopez!
00:54My goodness! That was so quick.
00:57Oh! Ortega goes down again!
00:59Oh my goodness!
01:01Ortega's in big, big trouble. Lopez needs to give him space!
01:04Oh, now Lopez going to the crown.
01:08Lopez should give him space.
01:10I think he wants to prove a point.
01:12That was a nasty combination by Diego Lopez.
01:19Bryan Ortega's still in big trouble.
01:21Oh, big crown strikes from Lopez getting through!
01:25Ortega looking for the triangle. Excuse me.
01:27Oh!
01:29And the T-City does stand for triangle.
01:31Oh!
01:33He's got one of the best triangles in the game, but Lopez is raining down bombs and he's trying it again.
01:41Lopez told us in our fighter meeting.
01:44I'm not afraid of his jiu-jitsu.
01:46Most of my featherweight contemporaries are.
01:50T-City's busted open bad.
01:52Yeah, nasty cut. That left eye.
01:56If I'm Lopez.
01:58Yeah, you're letting him stand there.
01:59Sorry, John. If I'm Lopez, I'm letting him go.
02:01It seems like Lopez wants to submit it.
02:05He wants to prove a point. He's the second-degree black belt himself.
02:09And to submit, Bryan Ortega would be a huge feather in his cap.
02:14Huge ground strikes for Ortega.
02:17Looking to absorb.
02:20But every moment on the ground gives Ortega a chance to recover.
02:23Sure.
02:24He was hurt so badly in that first opening exchange. Look at that up kick.
02:34Diego Lopez in no rush to welcome Ortega back to his feet.
02:39He's got to be careful with those up kicks.
02:43Both men credential Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts.
02:51Diego Lopez is the head jiu-jitsu coach for Lobo MMA.
02:59He's going to let him up.
03:02Stage decision, perhaps, by Diego Lopez.
03:05Just over two minutes to go here in round one.
03:07Ortega's busted up.
03:09Ortega's got to find a way to survive.
03:11He should not take many risks.
03:13He should take his time.
03:14Oh, nice job by Ortega connecting and following up with a jab.
03:20Well, Bryan Ortega is nothing if not durable and
03:24still hanging around despite the great start for Lopez.
03:26Good job by Ortega.
03:41Good job by Ortega.
03:54Good job.
03:58Oh, nice right knee.
03:58Nice left hook behind it as well.
04:02Ortega working his way back into this fight.
04:05Lopez is just so dangerous on the feet.
04:20All right, this coach's game is brought to you by Cuervo Tequila.
04:27We head into the corner of Brian Ortega, Henner Gracie, Tiki Goshen, Paul Herrera.
04:31He's breathing hard, Brian!
04:33Yes!
04:37Corner it.
04:41You got to stay long, baby!
04:43Other side.
04:46Walk him like Zombie.
04:49Yes!
04:50There you go.
04:53At times throughout Ortega's career, he has been somewhat of the king of a comeback, right?
04:59I mean, even the guy here Rodriguez fight, his last win, he had to rally.
05:02Twisted his ankle before the fight even began.
05:05Well, he's a tough guy.
05:07And he'll never give up on himself.
05:09But it'll be on Diego Lopez to continue to press him and make him work
05:13because the longer Brian can find confidence with these jabs
05:16and having success with his striking,
05:18the more it'll build in, the harder the fight we'll get for him.
05:23Now imagine what would happen if Diego Lopez...
05:27...has the largest and third-largest statistical comeback finishes in featherweight history.
05:32...will need to rally tonight if he is going to secure the victory.
05:36Round two is underway.
05:38Diego Lopez is over here, weakened in between rounds.
05:40Right?
05:41Diego Lopez seems to be so comfortable inside of this high-level fight,
05:46the toughest fight of his career.
05:48At least on paper it is.
05:51But meanwhile, very questionable decision going to the ground that first round.
05:56Right.
05:56If you're just trying to win the fight, that's not what you do.
06:00He did that to prove a point.
06:02Right.
06:04Oh, whoa.
06:06Another nice, heavy connection by Lopez.
06:10And that's why you question him going to the ground,
06:12because on the feet, he's faster,
06:14and he seems to be able to find his strikes against Ortega.
06:17And when he had him hurt,
06:19maybe he was one shot away from finishing the fight.
06:21Right.
06:22Well, step into Sphere yourself right after tonight's historic event in EA Sports UFC 5.
06:29Ortega just landed a good right hand.
06:32And here's the thing.
06:33If this fight continues to go on, Ortega has very good hands.
06:37And if Lopez is slowing down because of all the energy he burned off in the first round,
06:44taking the fight to the ground, trying to finish him on the ground,
06:46he seems a little slower right now than he did at the beginning of the first.
06:50First, Lopez is doing a good job throwing those outside leg kicks.
06:55He's landed it by two real good ones.
06:57Ortega enters on a single leg.
07:00All right, just about three and a half minutes here to go round two.
07:03Dean Thomas, what do you have?
07:04So at the end of that round, I could hear Ortega's corner tell him,
07:08Lopez is breathing hard.
07:10Yeah.
07:10That is a sign for Ortega to put the gas on.
07:14He's got to start turning up and make Ortega work.
07:17He's got to make Lopez work because when Lopez punches,
07:19he tightens up.
07:21That's why his strikes are so strong because he throws them so heavy.
07:23So if I'm Ortega, I'm putting the gas on him,
07:26see if I can get him a little bit more tired, slow him down,
07:29because all he needs to do is get him to slow him down just a little bit
07:31for Ortega to hit a submission.
07:33Yeah, I did notice some heavy breathing from Diego Lopez at the end of round one.
07:37Nice pickup there, Dean Thomas.
07:39But he hit the gas when he went to the ground.
07:42Our fighter meeting centered almost entirely around him trying to finish this fight,
07:47winning in convincing fashion.
07:48And he didn't necessarily talk about chasing a submission,
07:50but it seems like he has really prioritized a finish
07:54and it's not materialized just yet.
07:57He's doing a good job with the calf kick, though, this round.
08:00He's landed about three of them that were really good and effective.
08:05Another thing to take into consideration is how much weight Lopez cuts
08:09and how much of an effect that has on his cardio if the fight keeps going.
08:12There is now a huge welt on the back leg, left shin, of Brian Ortega.
08:20Yeah.
08:21This round, Lopez has landed about three really nice leg kicks.
08:25Oh!
08:27Ortega ate that head kick well.
08:30Ortega looks good on the feet, though.
08:31He does.
08:32He looks more loose and fluid.
08:42Yeah, what Dean said.
08:43Look at how Lopez tightens up when he throws every shot.
08:46Every shot is trying to take your head off.
08:49Whereas Ortega is just popping.
08:50There it is.
08:51Oh, nice low kick.
08:52Oh, he's hurt.
08:52Another one, yep.
08:53That one hurt him bad.
08:55That leg kick, man.
08:56Early in the round, you can see it starting to take an effect.
09:00Yeah, this is a nasty welt on that left leg.
09:05So now, even if Brian's checking him, still going to be painful.
09:09He's going to have to switch to southpaw and stay there to protect that lead leg.
09:14There goes another one.
09:18Ortega flirted with a stand switch there.
09:20Everybody, your work, Brian.
09:22Give those hands up.
09:25It works.
09:26It works, man.
09:27Good right hand connection there by Ortega coming up on a minute to go round two.
09:32Good movement there by Ortega.
09:34Good angle.
09:37Oh, again with that low kick.
09:39You see Ortega trying to commit now.
09:40He's trying to commit to his shots.
09:42The only thing is that first combination, and every single time he enters, Diego throws the right-hand left hook.
09:48It's making him hesitate just a little bit as he gets close.
09:52He needs to go all the way in, because the more he hesitates, the more he's in that in-between range where Diego Lopez can land his punches.
10:00Lopez keeps touching his neck in that Adam's apple area.
10:03I'm not sure why.
10:17Ortega doing a nice job not biting on the myriad faints of Lopez.
10:21Lopez.
10:23Much, much better round for Brian Ortega.
10:29Jab for T-City gets through.
10:35Ten minutes down.
10:38This is the podcast.
10:39Every Monday and Thursday, Chael and I go back and forth.
10:43You don't want to miss it.
10:44A lot of fight fans pying for this one to be five rounds.
10:51It is three.
10:52Final five minutes, yours now.
10:57I mean, look at the swelling on the front leg of Brian Ortega.
11:01He just planted on that leg and it buckled on him.
11:03But the swelling is insane.
11:05And he's flirted with the South Park change a couple of times, but he just is not, like, fighting out of that stance.
11:12Right.
11:13Oh, another one.
11:15Yeah, Lopez just touching that lead leg of Ortega.
11:19What Lopez does so well is he throws with his hands and he gets close.
11:25And then you get to thinking, okay, we're boxing.
11:27And he just touches that low calf.
11:30I mean, this guy's the jiu-jitsu coach at his gym.
11:32And his hands look as good as anybody.
11:38And Ortega's hands look good.
11:41Tonight's social media posts are brought to you by Dude Wipes.
11:43Don't grapple with toilet paper.
11:44Put Dude Wipes in your corner.
11:45Dude Wipes best clean.
11:47Pants down.
11:52Nice sequence there by Diego Lopez.
11:58Tiki Goshen calling for Orte to work off of that jab.
12:01But they want him to take this fight to the ground.
12:03Easier said than done.
12:07Nice exchange there in the pocket.
12:12Ortega's hands look fast.
12:13Nice right hand by Lopez.
12:17Keeps touching that neck.
12:18Perhaps I'm unnecessarily leaning into it.
12:32Good hands by Ortega.
12:34Looks very fluid.
12:35Nice jab.
12:36They told Ortega in the between rounds he needs a finish.
12:44He's trying his best to try to do that.
12:48But look at the willingness of Lopez to stay in this type of fight knowing,
12:52or at least he has a good idea that he's up two rounds to zero.
12:56Right hand over the top for Lopez.
13:15Nice entry.
13:18That's lit, man.
13:19Beautiful entry there by Ortega.
13:22Nice tee down the fence, man.
13:23Ortega mentally, focus-wise, very much in this fight.
13:33Just over two minutes to go.
13:43Who would have ever thought after that opening exchange this fight would be
13:45going like this in the third round?
13:47No one.
13:47But again, that's just the toughness of Brian Ortega.
13:51You know, we have seen hard on display tonight by so many of these great athletes.
13:56They find themselves in very difficult situations, and they keep fighting.
14:00Diego Lopez is winning this fight.
14:02But Brian Ortega is still fighting tough.
14:04Diego just hurt him there.
14:05Yeah, that was a punch.
14:06Now Lopez working partially off the back of Ortega.
14:1790 seconds to go.
14:19You know, from the moment this young man got into the octagon,
14:22his first few fights, you knew that he had something.
14:26Yeah.
14:26And he just continues to improve and evolve.
14:29We isolated that punch there that beautifully landed on Ortega.
14:35It is crazy to think about Diego Lopez, though, competing on the season premiere
14:40of season five of Dana White's Contender Series.
14:42Loses to Joe Anderson Brito, then lost his next fight, too.
14:46And now look at him, one of the best featherweights in the world.
14:49But I think that speaks to the level of competition on the Contender Series.
14:52And he took that fight on short notice against Mozart.
14:55And while it didn't go his way, he got experience that when he was in there
15:00with Gavin Tucker and Pat Sabatini, those aren't those guys that even fought
15:05on the Contender Series.
15:06Right?
15:06So he just continues to get better.
15:09And almost submitted Mozart twice.
15:12And just confidence, man, that comes from being in those types of fights.
15:16Then you realize, I've had time.
15:19I'm more prepared.
15:20I'm better than I was even then.
15:22Yeah.
15:22Why shouldn't I be prepared?
15:23Oh!
15:23He's stung up.
15:25Left hand for Lopez.
15:28Oh, my goodness.
15:30Look at this kid.
15:33Chase at a finish in the waning seconds.
15:35Now trying to get on the back of Ortega.
15:44What an exchange.
15:45Oh!
15:48What a fight!
15:50What a fight, Diego Lopez!
15:52What a fight.
15:53And Brian Ortega finished strong.
15:58And Dana White just said to Lopez, you're number three now.
16:04Diego Lopez will be in the top three come Monday morning.
16:09In all likelihood, Brian T-City Ortega at his game, best as usual.
16:15But in all likelihood, lost all three rounds here as Diego Lopez will move from 12 near the top of the division.
16:22So, the finish for Diego Lopez nearly materialized in round one.
16:36D.C. is trying to talk to a replay.
16:41Right here you see a beautiful overhand right-left hook by Diego Lopez, who's over here talking to us, talking to Sean Shelby.
16:50Some great ground and pound here by Lopez.
16:53Then another right hand over the top with a left hook that follows.
16:56That was the combination that he landed on a number of occasions.
17:00High kick lands for Lopez.
17:02The outside cap kick was one of his best weapons of the entire fight.
17:08Third round.
17:09Both of these guys going at it.
17:12Another combination for Lopez.
17:14Look at that big left hook right here.
17:16Lands on the eye of Brian Ortega.
17:18He thought he got poked.
17:20But it was a punch by Diego Lopez.
17:23He hurts him bad here.
17:24Drops.
17:26Ortega.
17:27I mean, Diego Lopez is an absolute savage.
17:30Brian Ortega showed well.
17:32But boy.
17:33Ladies and gentlemen, after three rounds, we go to the judges' score cards for a decision.
17:39The judges' score of the contest, 30-26, 30-27, and 30-27 for the winner.
17:45By unanimous decision, Diego Lopez!