Ortega accuses UFC of avoiding outside fighters who could 'whoop us'

Brian Ortega has levelled a pointed accusation at the UFC, claiming the promotion intentionally avoids contracting fighters from rival organisations who could defeat its own roster — a view shaped, he says, by his training camp alongside Bellator featherweight great A.J. McKee.

“The UFC is just a marketing machine,” Ortega said on the Anatomy of a Fighter podcast. “There [are] people outside [the UFC] that would whoop us, and they know it. They are not inviting them. There are people who dedicate their lives to this and you see it. There’s no faking technique and skill; the heart and even the mindset… I know [McKee] knows what he is doing and he is at the highest level.”

Ortega (16-5) has been working with McKee ahead of their respective returns to competition. McKee (25-2) is riding a three-fight winning streak as he prepares to challenge Rajabali Shaidullaev for the Rizin featherweight title and the vacant PFL featherweight title at Super Rizin 5 on 5 September in Osaka, Japan. Shaidullaev enters the bout undefeated at 19-0 with a 100% finishing rate.

For Ortega, the camp serves a dual purpose. The former UFC featherweight title challenger is set to return at UFC 331 on 19 September at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where he will rematch Renato “Money” Moicano (21-7). The bout represents an opportunity to arrest a two-fight losing skid and reassert himself in a featherweight division he once came within touching distance of ruling.

Ortega’s comments add to a long-running debate about how the UFC’s roster compares to the wider global MMA landscape, and whether the promotion’s dominance is partly a product of selective matchmaking rather than purely sporting merit. Whether his views resonate beyond the training room may depend, in part, on how both he and McKee perform when the cage door closes this September.