Sharpening the Blades: Brian Ortega’s road to UFC 199
Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega, seen here in 2015, training at Black House MMA for the upcoming UFC 199 fight at The Forum. Photo . Later on, 25-year-old Brian Ortega will look back at his first week of training camp as just another night of sharpening his blades. But three minutes into his fifth and final round of sparring, in his first week of a grueling training camp, the rising mixed martial-arts star is looking worn down. Tall and lanky, with his hair in a warrior’s top-knot, Ortega is drenched in sweat. He’s breathing heavy, and his hands, normally near his chin, have dropped to his waist. He’s tired, and everyone watching him knows it. Charlie Khong, an experienced wrestler and one of Ortega’s four rotating sparring partners that night, was relatively fresh. He pressed his advantage. Sensing an opportunity, Khong shot in toward Ortega’s legs for a takedown. An hour earlier, Ortega would have caught Khong in his first step and countered by dropping his weight on top of him in a heavy sprawl. But he’s caught off-guard, just a hair too slow. Ortega widened his base to block the initial takedown, hooking his left arm just under Khong’s right shoulder. “Come on Brian, fight through it!”…
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