“I’ve proven I can hang in there, go through adversity, and pull tricks out of the bag.”
― Brian Ortega
“On my block, I had all these guys coming in and out of jail. When I was 13, I was playing outside my house, and one of those guys came across the street and started cussing me out, wanting to fight me. People knew I trained kickboxing and would put the gloves on with my friends, so that made me a target.”
― Brian Ortega
“I always have my group of friends at the gym. We used to go hang out somewhere before. Now we’re just hanging out at the gym. We have sparring parties where everyone beats each other up, but then we all eat my dad’s cooking, and I hire a massage therapist, so everyone is just kicking back and having a good time. I just keep the environment great.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ve been in so many street fights.”
― Brian Ortega
“I got to share the Octagon with Clay Guida. I got to share the Octagon with Cub Swanson. Now I’m going to share the Octagon with Frankie Edgar. These are things that, as a fighter, you always dream of.”
― Brian Ortega
“I love kids.”
― Brian Ortega
“Fighting was a problem for me in high school.”
― Brian Ortega
“Sometimes, the best response is no response.”
― Brian Ortega
“For me, it was always survival. Learn where not to be at so you don’t get shot. Learn where not to walk at so you don’t get jumped. Learn who to stand up to, who not to stand up to. And then, when I got old enough to get a chip on my shoulder, I wanted to be the dog. I wanted to be the alpha.”
― Brian Ortega
“I better be humble. I’m always checking myself.”
― Brian Ortega
“I just want people to realize that it doesn’t take much to be a good person. Simple things is all it takes.”
― Brian Ortega
“The people around me saved my life, not MMA. It was people who said, ‘You’re better than this,’ who told me, ‘You don’t belong in this world.’ MMA and jiu-jitsu and training gave me an escape.”
― Brian Ortega
“Ultimately, I’m here to fight the best. I’m not here to stay in and get a couple paychecks. I’m here to do my best while I can and while I’m fresh and make a name for myself.”
― Brian Ortega
“All glory to God. I’m nothing.”
― Brian Ortega
“Sometimes it takes me a little longer to kick into my gears.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’m the kind of guy who, if you tell me you can’t do something, like, ‘Brian, you can’t do a backflip off that two-floor building,’ and I’m going to give it a shot.”
― Brian Ortega
“The weight of the world on my shoulders was something that I had to let go.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’m not picky; I’ll get it how I can take it. Submission, KO – whatever it is, if it has me winning, I’ll take it.”
― Brian Ortega
“Sometimes when you get eager, you get sloppy. Sometimes when you get sloppy, you get knocked out.”
― Brian Ortega
“I come from a city where we really didn’t have too many role models.”
― Brian Ortega
“I like super fights. I want super fights. I want guys that I can match up well where people don’t know what going to happen.”
― Brian Ortega
“Pretty much, I was a hometown fighter, and everyone was pulling for me. Now I’m a hometown fighter again. It’s a lot of pressure because you don’t want to let people down. They’re yelling your name and chanting for you.”
― Brian Ortega
“Two good, large fights a year is good enough for me.”
― Brian Ortega
“Training full-on year round is great, and I love to stay in shape and always being ready, but I feel sometimes I don’t have a life.”
― Brian Ortega
“All I do is just live in the gym.”
― Brian Ortega
“As much as I dream, I have nightmares.”
― Brian Ortega
“When I go in to fight week, I go, ‘Maybe I’m going to be that guy on the highlight reel that gets knocked out.’ I’m always thinking, ‘How am I going to react? Am I going to be a sore loser?’ I’m almost checking myself in case something bad happens.”
― Brian Ortega
“I always try not to look too far ahead. I just look far enough to know where I’m going next.”
― Brian Ortega
“A lot of people have these fancy facilities, these fancy training atmospheres, high-tech this and that… I believe it’s about the fighter and how much work is he willing to put. I’m trying to show the world that I can make it happen from a garage. People don’t believe it, but I know how to work with what I’ve got to get to the top.”
― Brian Ortega
“I keep training hard, keep working out, keep looking at my fights, and I wonder, ‘If I was to fight me, how would I beat me?’ It’s like having a boat with a bunch of holes. I’m trying to patch up all the holes. If I was to fight myself, I’d take advantage of certain things. I’ve got to know my opponent is thinking the same thing.”
― Brian Ortega
“I dropped out or got kicked out of four high schools.”
― Brian Ortega
“I knew what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to fight.”
― Brian Ortega
“As a pro, in the beginning, I had to sell tickets to get paid. So you gotta be a hustler, and you gotta worry about fighting.”
― Brian Ortega
“My fifth pro fight, I got my first title fight.”
― Brian Ortega
“The Harbor Area is everything – Carson, Wilmington, San Pedro, Long Beach, that whole little bubble that I grew up in. I always throw it up after I finish fighting, I always throw up the Harbor Area. Out of pride. It made me who I am. It brought me my goods; it brought me my bads. It molded me into who I am.”
― Brian Ortega
“Fighting is great, but I can’t do it forever.”
― Brian Ortega
“There’s little windows that open up during the fight, to finish your opponent. Whenever those windows open, I’m jumping right through them without hesitation.”
― Brian Ortega
“I have my parents to keep me in check, a team that loves me, and I have the ability to go out there, dream, and chase it.”
― Brian Ortega
“To bring out the best in someone, you really have to push them.”
― Brian Ortega
“You know how it is: you’re a kid, and you see your parents do something, you tend not to want to follow that and do your own thing.”
― Brian Ortega
“I was sitting around, moping and feeling badly for myself. I went to the hospital to visit a child, and it hit me: helping people is what I’m meant to do.”
― Brian Ortega
“I want to go out and help people and share love where love is needed.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’m human, and we all make mistakes. But just because you’re knocked down, you don’t have to stay down. Get up and fight.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ve never met a fighter who said, ‘I love cutting weight.’”
― Brian Ortega
“I love being the underdog. I’m cool in my dog house.”
― Brian Ortega
“For me, I love doing what is said can’t be done.”
― Brian Ortega
“Ultimately, I feel like I’m doing everything right. I’m slowly but surely climbing up the ladder. I’m taking out bigger names with every fight. Not just beating them on a point level – I’m finishing every single one of my opponents.”
― Brian Ortega
“My whole thing is I don’t want to break mentally. I want to find comfort in uncomfortable situations.”
― Brian Ortega
“I think I’m pretty marketable when it comes to marketing fighters ’cause I’ve met a lot of ’em, and they’re not that interesting. They don’t do too many things, or their days are not like my days.”
― Brian Ortega
“I am who I am. I’m a cool person, and I don’t think I need to sell myself. I’m just going to let the fights keep talking.”
― Brian Ortega
“I saw my first UFC fight when I was 15 and figured, ‘This is what I want to do when I grow up.’”
― Brian Ortega
“When I get in there, I try to really make sure there’s no quit in me and that whoever I fight is going to have a long night.”
― Brian Ortega
“Cub Swanson’s a guy you either get through or you don’t, and I fought him when he was on a nice winning streak.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ll do things that a lot of people think is very risky.”
― Brian Ortega
“I really love to help kids that are struggling and going through a tough time, and I want to be a positive light on them.”
― Brian Ortega
“Obviously it’s great to train at home and not have to travel and stay in the same time zone. That’s always great.”
― Brian Ortega
“I believe we all have a responsibility to try to help other people in this world. To me, my ability to help and to do good for others will only increase if I’m more known and get to that really super elite level. That would be the huge benefit for me. It would put me in a position where I could just help more people.”
― Brian Ortega
“I don’t want to spend all the money I’ve made and then have to hustle fight to fight.”
― Brian Ortega
“It’s a little weird: you’re headlining a show on TV, and obviously, people like to associate that with material things. I drive a – what is it – 1999 Chevy Blazer. There’s no more cushion on the driver’s seat, and the tires are about gone.”
― Brian Ortega
“I want to secure my name. I’ll fight who I have to fight for the belt.”
― Brian Ortega
“Every time, you get hit in the face, you have to fight.”
― Brian Ortega
“The Brian Ortega Foundation will cater to all people who have all kinds of problems.”
― Brian Ortega
“Fight fans always appreciate a fighter who is willing to step up on short notice.”
― Brian Ortega
“I wasn’t really a beach boy. I was a city boy, afraid of the ocean.”
― Brian Ortega
“If we have more confidence in ourselves, we can live a happier life and a better life.”
― Brian Ortega
“That’s always been my problem – the lack of fear in some situations.”
― Brian Ortega
“I very strongly dislike fear. I always say fear keeps us from living our lives and doing the things we want to do.”
― Brian Ortega
“I don’t like getting comfortable.”
― Brian Ortega
“When I go in the Octagon, it’s no big deal. Just gonna go fight. Majority of the people? ‘Dude, I’m scared to even walk through there.’ Everything’s a matter of perspective.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ve always wanted better for myself; I just didn’t know what route I was going to take.”
― Brian Ortega
“I liked to pretend a lot. I thought I could be anything that I wanted.”
― Brian Ortega
“What’s that song? It says, ‘Everything that you do will come back to you in your sweet time?’ That’s why I still don’t relax. Even my coach gets mad at me sometimes. He’s like, ‘Come on, man – relax.’ I go, ‘Nah.’ I’m always good.”
― Brian Ortega
“For me, I’m just me. That’s what I realized the best thing to be is.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ve seen the worst. In my head, I’ve seen the worst. When I go into a fight, I’m all right. You know what I’m saying? I’ve already made it.”
― Brian Ortega
“Sometimes I wish I could just fight at 155 pounds.”
― Brian Ortega
“I want the real title. I can’t express it enough that I want to fight for the real title. The interim title, from what I’ve seen… people get it, and then they take it away in a month. I just don’t want to be that person.”
― Brian Ortega
“It doesn’t matter that I’m taking a fight on a month’s notice. I’ve taken many fights on two seconds’ notice.”
― Brian Ortega
“Helping people that are down and out is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
― Brian Ortega
“I want to help make the world a better place.”
― Brian Ortega
“Nobody expected me to finish Cub Swanson the way I did. When you see something like that, even I say, ‘You’re finally here. You’re not only hanging with the best of the best, you’re finishing them.’”
― Brian Ortega
“A lot of people think they need the best training partners, the best gym. I started with Vans, Jack in the Box, and a dream, and now I’m here. You just need to have that work ethic, focus, and dedication.”
― Brian Ortega
“There’s always a way to pull back and discredit ourselves, but once you just shut that out and start doing it, you realize things about yourself that you never thought were possible.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’m dangerous because I have nothing to lose.”
― Brian Ortega
“There’s a lot of times when I shouldn’t have been here. I go, ‘Man, I’m blessed.’ I’ve had people shoot at me and had all kinds of stuff happen, and somehow I’m still here, and other people are not.”
― Brian Ortega
“It’s never been about an opponent. I don’t care who it is. Just throw them in front of me and let me do what I have to do. Let me earn the belt.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ve been doing charity work since I’m 20 years old, and now I want to help kids.”
― Brian Ortega
“My house was a revolving door. You walk in, you walk out, you get whatever you can eat, you leave, you go hang out with friends. I’m on my mission, my sister’s on another mission, my dad is working trying to provide, my mom is trying to do the same thing. And somehow, we’re all co-existing with each other.”
― Brian Ortega
“My house always had at least 14 people in it. And one bathroom. So I didn’t really want to be home.”
― Brian Ortega
“I was blessed to be able to be born here. My dad crossed. My dad illegally went through the border and was living under a bridge; he was homeless. People are making fun of him, beating him up. All kinds of things. After he kind of figured out the situation, he brought my mom over.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’m a businessman, a company man, but I’m no ‘yes’ man.”
― Brian Ortega
“I’ve gotta check, but I think I’ll be the first UFC fighter in history to have the lead role in a big movie.”
― Brian Ortega
“I don’t look like a fighter. I like it, though, because it just allows me to be in the position I am now, to where I can venture out to wherever I want to go. I can go into acting. I can go into this; I can go different ways now. And because of fighting, I can do that.”
― Brian Ortega
“Put on a camera and put on some whatever, and you’re an actor. Put me in a cage, I’m a fighter. Put me somewhere else – I’m in an ocean, I’m a surfer. I don’t know what I am, I just do it all. And I want to be good at everything.”
― Brian Ortega
“One thing I took – you know, especially from boxing at a young age – from my coach was, if you’re a jiu-jitsu guy, and you only cater your training to jiu-jitsu, there’s going to come a day and time in your career when you face a guy who is a great wrestler, has great takedown defense, and he’s going to make you look silly.”
― Brian Ortega
“I can take care of myself.”
― Brian Ortega
“I get this weird feeling that there’s bigger things to do still, and I can’t wait to figure it out.”
― Brian Ortega
“Not too many people present a good ground game from the bottom. They survive a little bit, and it’s kind of boring. But not too many people are attacking from the bottom, hurting with elbows. They don’t bring that kind of game because it takes a long time to develop.”
― Brian Ortega
“My whole life, I thought I sucked. And then I get in here, and I grapple other people, and I’m like, ‘I’m actually good.’”
― Brian Ortega
“I’m not the perfect person, but I have the perfect heart, I feel, when it comes to helping people.”
― Brian Ortega
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