‘Man Camp’ motivates Brian Ortega to donate $100K to church

Brian Ortega has a special kind of motivation going into UFC 303 on Saturday.

Ortega (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) was not initially scheduled to struggle on the occasion. However then the cellphone rang with a possibility to struggle Diego Lopes on 17 days’ discover in a featherweight bout at T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), as a part of the restructured Worldwide Combat Week lineup within the aftermath of Conor McGregor’s damage withdrawal.

Ortega revealed he was planning for a transfer as much as the light-weight division for a Sept. 14 struggle at UFC 306 earlier than being supplied the struggle with Lopes (23-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC). “T-Metropolis” is coming off a third-round submission of Yair Rodriguez in February and hasn’t fought greater than as soon as in a calendar yr since 2018, so entering into this spot doesn’t precisely jive along with his historical past.

However Ortega wished to do one thing “nerve racking,” he mentioned, so he jumped on the provide. Greater than that, nonetheless, he advised MMA Junkie that a large a part of his determination to compete at UFC 303 is in order that he can donate $100,000 of his purse to Fearless Church in Los Angeles.

“I’m combating for a much bigger trigger on this one, so it fuels me this struggle,” Ortega advised MMA Junkie forward of UFC 303. “I’m going to make use of the cash and provides it to church. I’m going to assist lots of males. It’s mainly the principle cause why I accepted the struggle.”

Based on Fearless Church, “a scared world wants a fearless church” and folks must “love extra, worry much less.” Ortega, 33, mentioned he just lately attended Fearless’ “Man Camp,” alongside along with his kids. He described the expertise as “life altering,” and that’s what prompted him to step within the octagon in opposition to Lopes on brief discover.

“It was my Pastor and I – we went to this factor, Man Camp, and we did that, and after that it was life-changing,” Ortega mentioned. “Lots of males acquired saved. Lots of males acquired to be themselves authentically with out no judgement. It was actual. In a world the place every part is simply type of pretend, it was actual for me. To see all this, to have my kids there – I need that for extra individuals.

“If I can donate $100,000 and make that occur this yr on a much bigger floor. It was simply 160 individuals. If I could make that occur with 300, 400, 500 individuals, that’s what I’m going to do, and that’s why I took this struggle.”

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 303.