Brian Ortega on UFC 303 bout cancellation – “I could not keep any food or water down”
Brian Ortega was supposed to meet Diego Lopes in the co-main event at UFC 303 in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend. That fight did not happen.
Instead, on just a few hours’ notice, Lopes would meet Dan Ige in what was supposed to be one of the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view events on the year.
Now, nearly a week later, Ortega has opened up on what forced him out of such a high-profile contest.
“Come fight week, I felt off and I didn’t feel right,” Ortega said on Instagram. “I thought it was just the residual effects from the [weight] cut. I was 178 pounds when I accepted this fight on 15 days’ notice. Thursday night after seven straight hours, I could not break 151 pounds. Later, I would find out that I was battling a fever, and I could not break into the final five pounds as my body started to shut down.
“Rather than risking huge health consequences, and possibly calling the fight off, thankfully we were able to move the weight to 155. At weigh-ins, I still felt off, but I was sure it would go away after I rehydrated and ate.”
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“Later on, that night, I still felt off and was suffering from cold sweats and no sleep,” Ortega wrote. “Finally, I feel asleep at 6 a.m. Saturday morning and woke up at 1 p.m. hoping to feel better. I could not keep any food or water down nor could I stand up to use the restroom.”
