Was Brian Ortega turning down Jeremy Stephens the right decision?

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  2. Edgar had no reason to fight Ortega, but you know what, he did, he took a risk and sadly for Frankie it didn’t go his way. Ortega from a business standpoint is playing smart, he took the shot and has it on hold for himself, but as a competitor, he’s not doing himself favours.

    To put it in perspective, tickets for the Las Vegas fight is 200 for nosebleed seats, 600-1200 for the better seats, imagine being a fan of Ortega and wanting to see him fight that bad you pay 600 for a decent seat close to the cage and then find out he’s refusing to fight. I’d be livid if that were me, and that’s what Ortega needs to consider, sure he may get the title fight, but how many people are tuning in to see him lose now?

  4. It's hypocritical though. Ortega is on the map now because Frankie took Ortega as a short notice replacement when Frankie could've waited for Max. So given that, I was shocked Ortega turned it down… But I don't blame him. He wants the belt and he doesn't want to take a risk.

  5. I agree with this dude. I swear it's hard to disagree with this guy. He really knows his stuff.

  6. Ortega turned down the Stephens fight bc Jeremy would have knocked his ass out

  8. This was basically my point. Ortega has no title shot guaranteed. Things happen all kinds of ways in this sport and when you get a chance at a strap, interim or otherwise, you take it. It’s what have you done lately – At the very least it’s insurance for a future shot at Max. Right now he is just “one of the guys”. I assume he will fight Max soon, things point that way, but what if that can’t happen? T City could get injured with that tough weight cut he has, then HE is sitting out with nothing to show for it. He’s ready to fight, primed and prepared, and he passes… yeah I don’t like the logic of that. Ortega just passed on the chance for some career insurance for a wing and a prayer. Not very smart.

  9. If you’re the best you have to run through everyone anyway – why not fight Stephens when you made it fine to a weight cut and you can get title insurance with an interim belt? Look at the fan reaction. Poor career choice.

  10. I can tell you why fighters turn down fights. It is very simple. UFC system is designed in such way that it not only does not provide any incentive to take random fight but also a punishment if you take risk and fail. For example, let assume that Ortega accepts this fight and is destroyed by Stephens, then we will start talking that Ortega did not deserve a title shot in first place and Stepehns deserve it. What would be Ortega left with? The same pay or even lower pay, destroyed career and no belt and even no title shot in the future. Can you imaging if you were interviewed for a job were you offered high salary, pension plan, excellent insurance and then on last day they tell you that job has changed and it is now lower pay and no insuranse and no pension plan. You turn it down and then they tell you "you ate not a hardworking person, if you were you would accept this job"

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