Brian Ortega reacted following his UFC 266 loss to UFC featherweight champ Alex Volkanovksi, saying “that little bastard is tough as hell.”

Ortega and Volkanovski went five hard rounds in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 266 pay-per-view card, but at the end of 25 minutes, it was Volkanovski getting his hand raised by unanimous decision. Although Ortega had several extremely tight submission attempts during the fight, Volkanovski was impossible to put away as he showed off incredible durability in his victory. Overall, it was just another phenomenal performance by Volkanovski, who is certainly one of the very best pound-for-pound MMA fighters right now.

Speaking to reporters following UFC 266, Ortega reacted to his loss to the champ. According to Ortega, Volkanovski was even tougher than he expected him to be.

“I thought it was done,” Ortega said (via MMAjunkie.com). “That’s what we train for exactly, my whole camp. Like I said, I was trying to come for his head but that little bastard is tough as hell, man. I wrapped onto that neck. I tried to squeeze it. Trust me, I tried to finish him. I heard him gargling and he f*cking slipped out and I was like, ‘F*ck.’”

For Ortega, this was his second loss in a UFC title fight following a TKO defeat to Max Holloway in 2018. Although Ortega bounced back from the loss to Holloway with one exceptional performance over The Korean Zombie last year, he wasn’t as impressive this time around against the champ Volkanovski. Outside of a few submission attempts, Volkanovski seemed to have his way with Ortega in the striking department. Although Ortega showed how tough he was in this fight, he will need to keep improving if he’s ever going to defeat Volkanovski or Holloway and become a UFC champion one day.

What do you think is next for Brian Ortega after losing to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266?