Brian Ortega will ‘ruin every contender’ if Ilia Topuria becomes champion at UFC 298

Brian Ortega is happy to take out all the top contenders if Ilia Topuria isn’t willing to.

Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) challenges featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (26-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 298 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) headliner at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Topuria said if he becomes champion, he won’t give Ortega, Max Holloway or Yair Rodriguez a title shot. Ortega (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who rematches Rodriguez in a UFC Fight Night co-headliner Feb. 24 in Mexico City, plans on ensuring that Topuria has no one else to fight if that’s the case.

“You have to win the belt for that to happen, that was my first thought,” Ortega told CBS Sports. “Let’s say you do win the belt and you’re not going to give us a shot. Then I’m going to make sure I ruin every contender – simple as that. One, you have to win it. Two, I’m going to take all the contenders away from you. … If you don’t want to fight us, then I’m going to take all your people.”

Ortega can relate to Topuria’s current state. “T-City” also was an undefeated rising contender who was taking fighters out en route to his first title shot. He had a gutsy performance, but largely was dominated in a title loss to then-champion Holloway, and also has challenged Volkanovski for the title.

He fell short on both title opportunities, and thinks Topuria will be facing a different level against Volkanovski.

“There’s always the question of, ‘Is he ready or is he not?’ Skillfully, he’s looked good against the people he’s faced,” Ortega said. “He’s technically sound. He’s the full package when it comes to striking, wrestling, jiu-jitsu. You can’t look at him and say he has one full weakness that’s exploitable, but I do believe that guys such as Volk have a different type of level of chess game.

“That’s why these fights are amazing to watch. You have someone who’s confident, someone who is ready as if he’s already the champ and defended it three times. And then you have the guy who has actually been at the top of the mountain and is just kicking everyone down. It’s a good fight. A lot of questions will be answered after this weekend, but it’s hard to go against Volk.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.