UFC featherweight Brian Ortega was removed from T-Mobile Arena during UFC 248 after an altercation in the crowd with Jay Park, a Korean music star who also serves as a translator for fellow UFC featherweight “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
During the event, Ortega reportedly approached Park over some comments he made during a previous interview before slapping him across the face.
Ortega was removed from the event, but added some hype to a potential showdown between the two fighters.
Now, Ortega is apologizing for his actions.
“I want to officially apologize to JPark for Saturday night, when Zombie is ready we can fight,” Ortega wrote on social media.
I want to officially apologize to JPark for Saturday night, when Zombie is ready we can fight.
— Brian Ortega (@BrianTcity) March 11, 2020
But the apologies were not done there.
Rener Gracie, who has been coaching Ortega for years, also issued an apology to The Korean Zombie.
“I took Brian under my wing at 13 years old, and since then he’s become of one of my best friends. He’s one of the most loyal and talented people I’ve ever met, but sometimes his emotions get the best of him. On Saturday night, his emotions got the best of him, and as his older brother, I will make sure he learns from this. Furthermore, when I made a comment on Brian’s post, it was clear that I took some of the trash talking directed at him personally, and my emotions got the best of me as well,” he wrote.
“The sequence of events is an unfortunate reminder that MMA is an entertainment sport, and regardless of what trash talking takes place outside of the ring, any and all fighting or physicality should only take place between the fighters and should always take place in the octagon. I too remember when you attended my seminar in Korea over three years ago. It was one of the highlights of my Asia tour. You were humble, respectful, and very technical. To this day, the training session I had with you remains one of my all-time favorites. I apologize for my comment, and I’m sorry your friend Jay Park had to experience the events that unfolded.”
Whether the apologies put the beef behind the two fighters remains to be seen, but we can all be happy to know that the next time they come face-to-face to settle their differences will likely be in the UFC Octagon.
