Brian Ortega Reveals Harrowing Details of Brutal Weight Cut Before UFC Shanghai

Extreme weight cutting has long haunted the sport of MMA like a recurring nightmare. Voices such as Joe Rogan have repeatedly called for the practice to be eliminated to protect fighters. The dangers of this were on full display during Brian Ortega’s brutal cut ahead of his UFC Shanghai co-main event against Aljamain Sterling. In a non-title featherweight clash, ‘T-City’ missed weight by nearly 7 pounds and appeared visibly drained at the weigh-ins. The fight itself was nearly scrapped before both sides agreed to proceed at a 153-pound catchweight. Yet, as Ortega has recently revealed, the situation was far more alarming than it appeared, shedding light on the severe health complications he endured just to make it to the event.

Brian Ortega Reveals He Was Unconscious for 30 Minutes Ahead of UFC Shanghai Weigh-Ins

Given how visibly drained Brian Ortega appeared before the fight, many fans believed the UFC would step in and prevent the former featherweight title challenger from competing. Shockingly, that wasn’t the case, and the bout went ahead at catchweight. What followed was a one-sided affair, with ‘T-City’ ultimately dropping a unanimous decision.

Recently, however, Ortega took to social media to share the harrowing reality of his weight cut, revealing that he nearly lost consciousness for 30 minutes in the process. 

He said, “We cut weight on Thursday, we hit the first one. We got down to ‘[151 pounds]. Second one, later on, I decided to jump the gun on that one at 12. We cut from midnight all the way until 8 in the morning, cutting weight the entire time. I realized I had 1.7 [pounds] to go still.”

At that point, Ortega revealed his body simply stopped responding. “We were confused on how my body wasn’t really pouring out the water, why it was just holding it in, but no matter what we have to get this weight off, so we did. We went downstairs at about 8, 8-something, decided to cut more weight. Put the plastics on, Sweet Sweat, the whole thing. I did 20 minutes on the bike.”

That final session proved to be disastrous. Brian Ortega collapsed and was left unconscious for nearly 30 minutes. “Once I got off, I went unconscious. I was unconscious for about 30 minutes. During that time, they were putting ice on me. They took all my clothes off and left me in boxers. Woke up in the ER.”

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