Brian Ortega (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

The consensus has been that the path to victory against Khabib Nurmagomedov requires keeping the bout standing, but it sounds like Brian Ortega doesn’t necessarily believe that’s the case.

Ortega offered to step in for the injured Tony Ferguson last month, and face Nurmagomedov for the UFC’s lightweight title. Ultimately, Nurmagomedov ended up defeating Al Iaquinta to secure the 155 belt.

Now Ortega is going to challenge featherweight champ Max Holloway at UFC 226, July 7th, but the talented grappler still has his sights on a bout with Nurmagomedov. While discussing the possibility of facing the lightweight champ down the line recently, Ortega said this (quote via MMA Junkie):

“Not too many people present a good ground game from the bottom,” Ortega said. “They survive a little bit, and it’s kind of boring. But not too many people are attacking from the bottom, hurting with elbows. They don’t bring that kind of game because it takes a long time to develop. Whereas me, I grew up in that situation, where I was always the bottom guy, always getting beat up by these guys. So I had to adapt my game to that.”

Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, is not expected to fight again until the end of 2018. If the UFC can come to terms with Conor McGregor, the former lightweight champ will likely face the new champ next.