UFC Mexico City: Brian Ortega submits Yair Rodriguez amid possible ankle injury

The UFC featherweight title changed hands at the recent UFC 298 PPV where Alexander Volkanovski, the long-reigning champion, was defeated by Ilia Topuria via second-round knockout. There has been no official confirmation as to who will be challenging Topuria in his next fight, but the recently concluded UFC Mexico Fight Night co-main event had two contenders; Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega.

It was a rematch of their first encounter that ended in unfortunate circumstances as Ortega had his rotator cuff torn amidst the fight. Ortega has not fought since then, while Rodriguez went on to win the interim title fight against Josh Emmet before losing to then-champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 290.

Brian Ortega defeats Yair Rodriguez

Yair Rodriguez had crowd support in the co-main event of UFC Mexico Fight Night against Brian Ortega, but that did not save him from suffering a submission loss. After two back-and-forth rounds, Ortega secured an arm-triangle choke, forcing a tap from the Mexican.

Brian Ortega was almost knocked out by Rodriguez in the first round but showed his granite chin and toughness to get back into the fight. By the end of the round, Ortega found success with his grappling and BJJ but was already behind the scorecards as Rodriguez had done enough with his striking at the beginning of the round to sway it in his favor.

Nonetheless, Ortega came back stronger in the second round as he pressured Rodriguez to not give space to the flashy kicking expert. Moreover, the American also showed improved wrestling to complement his BJJ game and it worked wonders as he spent a significant portion of the fight in the guard of Rodriguez.

Ortega replicated his strategy from the second round into the third round, securing a takedown on Rodriguez’s form, where he easily applied an arm-triangle choke to earn the victory. Post-victory, Ortega did not make it clear whether he is looking to fight for the title next, but he has certainly put himself in contention with the finish. For Rodriguez, it was an awful loss particularly after he warned Topuria before UFC Mexico.

Brian Ortega suffered potential ankle injury at UFC Mexico City

Brian Ortega was a slight betting underdog going into the fight against Yair Rodriguez but the odds shifted in his favor as the rounds went on. What makes the victory even more sweet is that he potentially injured his right ankle even before the fight started.

Ortega jumped inside the canvas and lost balance awkwardly whilst Bruce Buffer was announcing his name. Commentators were quick to notice it and spoke about it on the commentary as the fight started. UFC CEO Dana White also spoke about it at the post-fight press conference.

Jack Krucial, a renowned physiotherapist tweeted, “It’s one of the most common ankle injuries, do to the anatomy of the ankle – where we have far more inversion versus eversion of the foot & ankle complex,” about the potential ankle injury.

“If I had to bet, I would say Ortega’s ankle is either a Grade 0 (no tear), or Grade 1 (slight tear), of his lateral ankle ligaments,” Krucial further added the potential diagnosis for Ortega. If the injury is legit, he would fall back in line for the next title shot.

Do you think Brian Ortega will defeat Ilia Topuria in a fight? Leave your prediction below!