LAS VEGAS — After Thursday's 266-match pre-match press conference, the UFC featherweight champion dropped off his challenger.
According to champion Alexander Volkanowski, he did not know that challenger Brian Ortega had taken stimulants in the past to improve his grades.
"I didn't know you were taking the pills," Volcanovsky said under a nervous gaze after Thursday's news conference. "I don't like this kind of stuff. You don't deserve to be here. You're a drugged liar. ”
In 2014, Ortega tested positive for drofanoolone after beating Mike De la Torre in the first round of fox channel 12 UFC. Ortega admitted he made a mistake, apologized, and walked away from the "haters" who still criticize him years later.
Volkanovsky corrected a question at a news conference about whether Ortega should share the cage with him, and he said so a few minutes later. "Hey, he deserves to be here, I admit," Volcanowski said. "But he doesn't take the belt. You don't deserve it. ”
During the filming of the latest season of The Ultimate Warrior, Volkanovsky did not mention Ortega's PED history. It's unclear when the champion learned of his PED past, however, Wolcanovsky believes his failed test adds to his previous assessment that his opponents were not professional enough.
"Honestly, (he) is obviously unprofessional," Volkanovski said in response to questions about what he learned while filming TUV 29. "I've been talking for a week now. Unprofessional and weak, you know what I mean? What bothered me the most was that (he) was unprofessional. I've worked hard all my life, especially in this career. That's why I got this belt. ”
"I only saw weaknesses, unprofessionalism," Volcanovsky continued. "Obviously, the weaknesses shown a few years ago annoyed me. It's so unprofessional, I have nothing to do with it. ”
Since failing the test in 2014, Ortega has successfully competed in the competition 8 times under stricter guidelines imposed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2015, passing the test.
Volcanowski and Ortega will be in the same cage in Saturday's UFC 266 main races and will soon win the featherweight title. The event will be broadcast after ESPN's rehearsals and in espn+ early rehearsals.
