UFC 326 fight card: Brian Ortega withdraws from fight against Renato Moicano with lingering injuries
The former featherweight title challenger said he is unable to compete in March
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1 min read
Brian Ortega is out of his UFC 326 bout with Renato Moicano. Ortega announced on Instagram that a series of injuries has forced him to take time to recover, as well as receive physical therapy.
The fight with Moicano was to be Ortega's lightweight debut, a move he has been planning for more than a year. Now, that move will need to wait until later in 2026.
"Obviously, the news is coming out that no longer am I fighting March 7 in Vegas," Ortega said in an Instagram story. "I'm OK. Health is good. No surgeries, nothing crazy like that, but I do need to take a little bit, some time off to nurse these injuries that I have right now. It just sucks. It's not crazy like where I need to have surgery, but I have to rest it and let it heal and chill and do some physical therapy. I'm going to be on that mission. That's it.
"But it's just a little bit delayed. Nothing crazy. I'm still planning on fighting twice this year. Look out."
Ortega holds a submission win over Moicano, though that victory came at UFC 217 in July 2017.
Lengthy stints on the sidelines have plagued Ortega's career over the past decade. He previously was out of action from December 2018 to October 2020, and again from July 2022 to February 2024.
The move to lightweight came after a 2-5 stretch at featherweight beginning in December 2018. Over that stretch, Ortega came up short in featherweight title bids against Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski, with both bouts receiving Fight of the Night honors.
Ortega has also badly struggled to make the featherweight limit in recent years. He had to withdraw from a UFC 303 bout with Diego Lopes the day of the fight after missing weight, and then experienced complications cutting weight for his most recent fight, a loss to Aljamain Sterling, which had to be contested at a 153-pound catchweight. Ortega claimed he passed out for an extended period of time during the weight cut for the Sterling fight.
UFC 326 takes place March 7 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card is headlined by a BMF title bout between current ceremonial titleholder Max Holloway and challenger Charles Oliveira.
