Brian Ortega Pulls Out of UFC 331, Owns the Backlash and Apologizes

Brian Ortega was supposed to walk out in Los Angeles this Saturday for his official UFC lightweight debut against Renato Moicano. Instead, a cut over his left eyebrow — deep enough to need stitches — knocked him off UFC 331. It's the second time in 2025 he's fallen out of a scheduled fight with Moicano, having also pulled from their planned UFC 326 meeting earlier in the year.

The reaction online was predictable, and Ortega isn't hiding from it. He split the criticism into two camps: the fans who genuinely wanted to see him fight in his hometown, whom he apologized to directly, and the people accusing him of ducking, whom he called stupid in language a lot blunter than that. He said the fans who are angry have, rightfully, earned it — and asked them to forgive him and give him another shot to show who he really is.

How It Happened

According to Ortega, this wasn't a sparring injury. He said the cut came from a headbutt during a jiu-jitsu session while going over last-minute game plans and getting a final sweat in. He claimed the injury was initially reported as small, then turned out to require enough stitches that there was no hiding it from the California commission — no glasses, no makeup, no way to pass a pre-fight check with a swollen eye. He said his whole team told him it would be foolish to fight, and even though he wanted to say screw it and go anyway, the commission wouldn't have cleared him.

The withdrawal lands at a rough stretch of Ortega's career. A two-time featherweight title challenger, "T-City" has now lost four of his last five bouts, with weight-cut problems dogging several of them. His most recent outing was a unanimous-decision loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC Shanghai in August 2025.

For context, Sterling has since bounced back with a unanimous-decision win over Youssef Zalal and sits at #4 in the featherweight rankings on a 26-5 record. That's the level Ortega was measuring himself against before deciding to reset at 155 pounds — a move now on hold until he can get through a full camp without another freak accident.

Ortega thanked the fans still in his corner and said all he can do now is book another camp, sacrifice more time, and train smarter. Whether Moicano waits around for a third booking is a separate question entirely.