doesn’t think his fight against
will go the distance.
Ortega was preparing for a move to lightweight when he accepted a featherweight booking against Lopes on two weeks’ notice at
this past June. When Ortega faced trouble cutting weight, Lopes accepted the fight at lightweight. However, Ortega had to pull out on fight night.
In an unprecedented turn of events,
replaced Lopes on four hours’ notice at a catchweight of 165 pounds, dropping an entertaining unanimous decision. Ortega has since expressed his admiration for both Ige and Lopes for agreeing to fight on four hours’ notice.
Ortega’s booking against Lopes has been remade for
, which goes down at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday. Ortega notes that they are both evenly matched on the ground as well as on the feet to an extent that he is almost fighting a slightly different version of himself.
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“You have someone who refuses to lose [on the ground] and refuses to lose in the stand up,” Ortega told Submission Radio. “So when I say that, I bet you have no idea who I’m talking about. That’s why this is a exciting fight. You get to fight almost like a version of yourself. Tad bit different styles, same mentality.”