Dustin Ortiz entered UFC 206 as the #10 ranked flyweight in the UFC and after defeating the #7 ranked Zack Makovsky at UFC 206, Ortiz believes he is ready for more top ten competition, but not ready for a title shot just yet.
“I’m ready, but I’m not ready,” Ortiz said at a post-fight scrum. “I need more time in the octagon. I need a little bit more time, and I will be ready. I can guarantee that. This fight was my career fight. If I lose this, I’m starting from the very bottom and working my way back to the UFC. So this was a blessing from above, to say, ‘Hey, you deserve to be here, let’s buckle down and get on top of this, and go for that championship fight.’”
Ortiz earned a close decision win over Makovsky at UFC 206, but the flyweight believes his top control was what won him the fight in the eyes of the judges.
“I controlled more time, and I was just praying that the judges saw that I wanted it more,” Ortiz said. “I felt that you could see that. In the transitions and stuff, he kind of settles down, where I was like, ‘I’m not going to settle here. I’m going to land an elbow. I’m going to land a punch. I’m going to keep moving.”
As for the flyweight champion, he recently defeated TUF 24 champion Tim Elliot by unanimous decision at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, Ortiz and Johnson’s next fights have yet to be announced.
