WATCH: “He got so lucky!” Slow-mo fan angle of Brian Ortega’s NASTY ankle roll that almost sabotaged UFC Mexico City main event goes viral

Brian Ortega himself had detailed that rolling his ankle pre-fight put his submission victory at a major risk. Check out the slow-motion footage of the ankle roll.

WATCH: “He got so lucky!” Slow-mo fan angle of Brian Ortega’s NASTY ankle roll that almost sabotaged UFC Mexico City main event goes viral

Brian Ortega rolled his ankle during the initiation of his rematch (Source: IMAGO/Instagram)

Injuries of any form are part of the combat sports culture. Some are consequential, and some are just silly. Fight fans cannot help but notice Brian Ortega is among the few handfuls prone to such injuries. Ortega recently returned to the win column, avenging his loss to Yair Rodriguez. Their first fight saw Ortega pop his shoulder drastically in Round 1. However, their UFC Mexico rematch was vastly different.

‘T-City’ did manage to rebound from his back-to-back skids to Alexander Volkanovski and Rodriguez. He did, however, hurt himself in the process. More close-up footage of the scenario went viral, and yet again, we saw Ortega single-leg hopping in a warm-up attempt. Along with Bruce Buffer’s iconic enunciation, Ortega majorly missed a beat and rolled his ankle.

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Going up against Yair Rodriguez, infamous for his wild striking, Ortega had opened up slowly. The battle saw an injured Brian Ortega barely managing to keep up. However, he transitioned into dominant mounts and clinch-and-drag-down from the very 1st round. His quick recovery and dominant ground control had even fired back on Judge Mike Bell of the 10-8 fame.

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Many fans fumed at Bell for his controversial 10-8 scoring of Ortega vs. Rodriguez. However, the matter of his gruesome injury still shockingly persists. It was the kind of injury that could have easily derailed his submission victory at UFC Mexico City.

Fight fans react to slow-motion footage of Brian Ortega’s gruesome ankle roll

Brian Ortega’s first attempt against Yair Rodriguez ended in an injury and a loss. Coincidentally, his second go was a win, but not without injury. At UFC Mexico, Ortega sealed the deal with a fateful arm-triangle choke. Consequently, this came at the 0:58 mark of the 3rd round. His submission received immense praise.

Brian Ortega won his rematch with Yair Rodriguez, despite an injury
Brian Ortega won his rematch with Yair Rodriguez despite an injury (Source: Twitter/UFC.go.com)

The ankle roll in the beginning could have derailed his comeback win. The slow-motion footage reveals the nastiness of such instances. Here’s how fans have currently reacted to the footage:

A prime reaction accordingly read – “He actually got so lucky all of Yair’s team looked away right as he rolled his ankle.” An injury of this magnitude might put a fighter at a disadvantage. However, fans praised Ortega for overcoming the adversity.

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