Dustin Ortiz is making his case to be the top contender at Flyweight, one week before the champion Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson defends his title.
At UFC Calgary, Ortiz dominated the highly touted Matheus Nicolau by head kicking him out of title contention. Despite being ranked ahead of Nicolau, he was an underdog against the emerging star. For Ortiz, that's nothing new.
"It makes me hungry. I've been the underdog my entire life, even in elementary school. I hope some people made some good money, I hope they slide some my way. I'll do the same if I get the ($50,000 Performance of the Night bonus). It doesn't relieve any pressure as an underdog. You have so much to lose every fight. When you've made it to this stage, every fight is important. When you lose, everything freezes, you go back to the drawing board," Ortiz told Fightful.com's James Lynch after the fight.
With three wins in a row in the UFC, Ortiz is looking to gain a title shot, and expects to be ready to fight shortly.
"I'm injury-free. I'm going to take enough time to breathe, then I'm back at it," Ortiz clarified.
After the fight, Ortiz spoke of his success, and joked that Canada takes too much of his money via taxes when he wins.
You can see Fightful's playlist of UFC Calgary interviews at this link.