The UFC 303 card had to be modified heavily over the last few weeks. One of the major additions to the card was that of Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes. Ahead of his fight, Ortega has left no stone unturned in order to secure a victory; including a rather unusual method of training in order to keep him mellow.
In the week prior to the fights, the UFC releases daily videos following athletes around leading up to the fight with an embedded series that allows fans to get take a peek behind the curtains.
In a recent episode of this series, Brian Ortega shared that he tapes his mouth before his sessions. Not to fret, he explains his reasons for doing so as well.
“Now what we’re doing is just sweating. Getting a good workout in, sweating, putting tape on the mouth that way I don’t get too excited. The tape on the mouth keeps me mellow.”
According to reports, putting tape on the mouth gets the body into the habit of breathing through the nose, which is said to benefit blood flow to the muscles during sport. This is not a new practice adopted by Ortega. It is something that athletes across all sports have been following for years now.
A very vocal proponent of the same is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland who stated in a podcast with Logan Paul had revealed that he sleeps with his mouth taped every night.
Needless to say, Ortega will be hoping that these techniques give him the same edge that Haaland has had in the last two years of his time with ‘noisy neighbors’.
A closer look at Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes
Ortega and Lopes come into the fight in very contrasting forms. Ortega recently secured his first win since October 2020, while Lopes is on a three fight win streak where all three fights have ended in finishes.
However, every fight is different and needs to be judged on its merit. So, going up against Lopes, Ortega will be at a three-inch disadvantage in both height as well as reach.
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Ortega will however have a significant advantage in the wrestling and grappling department. Lopes has a below average 42% takedown defense rate which Ortega can capitalize on.
Similarly, Lopes will have an advantage in the striking department as Ortega usually takes a lot of damage in his fights. It will be interesting to see which fighter comes up with a better plan and eventually gets a win.
