Ortega reveals weigh-in collapse that forced his permanent move to lightweight

Brian Ortega has detailed the weight-cut emergency at UFC Shanghai that convinced him to abandon featherweight for good, revealing he passed out and woke up in a hospital before still making it to the scales and fighting Aljamain Sterling at a 153-pound catchweight.

The incident, which occurred roughly 10 months ago ahead of his decision loss to Sterling, is the most serious Ortega has experienced in a career spent cutting to 145 pounds since he was 15 years old. Speaking on the JAXXON podcast, Ortega described the moment with unusual candour.

“I’ve had the feeling where you feel like you’re about to die and you kind of pass out even for a little bit during the weight cut and then you wake up and you’re like, I’m just depleted,” Ortega said. “This one was — I try not to say it was a scare, but this one scared me a little bit.”

Ortega left the hospital and went straight to the weigh-ins, determined to face Sterling regardless. He credited Sterling with prioritising his well-being while still keeping the fight on, noting that Sterling’s team had a replacement opponent ready to step in. Ortega also acknowledged that geography may have saved the bout from being cancelled entirely.

“There’s guys who pass out right before for like a second and the fight gets cancelled,” he said. “I just got lucky it was China. Had that happened here, they would have pulled me out of the fight.”

The plan now is to compete at lightweight going forward. Ortega was scheduled to face Renato Moicano at UFC 326 in March in a 155-pound bout but was forced to withdraw through injury. He has not ruled out an eventual return to featherweight if he can improve his discipline and diet, but his immediate priority is making camp about training rather than weight management.

“Right now we’re moving up to lightweight after fighting at ‘45 since I was 15 years old,” Ortega said. “We went from no cutting to slight cutting to crazy big cuts and now that’s it, we’re going to ‘55. Make it an easier cut, make camp more camp than a freaking diet, nutrition camp. Just kind of focus in and train and get all the big boys that can push me around.”

Ortega has no confirmed opponent for his lightweight debut but said he remains open to a rematch with Moicano, whom he submitted in the third round in a featherweight meeting back in 2017.