Brian Ortega

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**Shirley Ju** (0:37)
Welcome to Shirley's Temple. We got Brian Ortega, T-City in the building, a legend in the UFC world.
One of the best, by the way, to ever do it. How are you feeling?

**Brian Ortega** (0:46)
I'm feeling good. Thank you for having me.

**Shirley Ju** (0:48)
Thank you for coming.
I appreciate you. How's your day?

**Brian Ortega** (0:52)
It's good, it's good. We did a lot of, had some good meetings.
Picked up my kids from school, hit a workout, and then now we're here.

**Shirley Ju** (1:02)
I love it. I was going to say, how old are your kids now?

**Brian Ortega** (1:07)
They're 10 and nine. 10 and nine, about to be 11 and 10

**Shirley Ju** (1:13)
They grow so fast.

**Brian Ortega** (1:14)
I had them so young.

**Shirley Ju** (1:15)
You had them at 20, right?

**Brian Ortega** (1:16)
Yeah, 19, 20

**Shirley Ju** (1:17)
Were you ready?

**Brian Ortega** (1:20)
I mean, you know what?

**SPEAKER_2** (1:21)
Nah.

**Brian Ortega** (1:23)
I wasn't ready, but I'm happy they're here.

**Shirley Ju** (1:27)
How did fatherhood change your life?

**SPEAKER_2** (1:32)
Kind of didn't.

**Brian Ortega** (1:34)
That's why I said I wasn't ready, if I'm being honest.

**Shirley Ju** (1:37)
Can you expand on that?

**Brian Ortega** (1:40)
Father at 20 years old, I'm still trying to figure things out myself. The only thing it did change was having to provide money.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:50)
Right?

**Brian Ortega** (1:51)
But that's kind of how in the beginning it did.
So as long as I was able to make money, I thought I was doing a good job. But then I realized later down the road that it's just not about just giving them.

**Shirley Ju** (2:04)
For sure.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:05)
Yeah.

**Brian Ortega** (2:05)
So that's a hard lesson, Adeline.

**Shirley Ju** (2:07)
Definitely.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:08)
Yeah.

**Shirley Ju** (2:09)
Cause your kids watch you fight. Is that ever like, do you ever feel like it's too much? It's too intense?

**Brian Ortega** (2:17)
As they get older, I don't think it's so much now, cause I feel like they know what it is that I do.
But in the beginning, I was not all right with it. I grew up watching my dad fight in the street, and I remember what it did to me as a kid. It gave you this helpless feeling that you can't do nothing. So I was like, well, hold on, when am I doing the same thing to my kids? But I remember one time, I was like, told everyone, don't let these guys watch my fight.

**Shirley Ju** (2:54)
Really?

**Brian Ortega** (2:55)
I already knew I was in for a war.

**Shirley Ju** (2:58)
Which fight was it?

**Brian Ortega** (2:59)
It was a long time ago, it was 2015, I think. It was against Tiago Tavares.

**Shirley Ju** (3:04)
Oh yeah.

**Brian Ortega** (3:04)
It was a bloody one.

**Shirley Ju** (3:05)
That was the one that you took super last minute, right?

**Brian Ortega** (3:08)
Yeah, on two weeks notice.

**Shirley Ju** (3:10)
You were partying?

**Brian Ortega** (3:11)
No, that was Frank Yeti.
Yeah, yeah, but they're all just kind of similar, yeah. But yeah, I told them, I don't want you guys watching it. I told everyone, don't let anyone watch it. I came back from New Orleans after I fought, and they're like, dad, that was a lot of blood. And I was like, no, no, that was just a movie. I don't know what to do, right?
Like two, three or three and four.
So I said, no, no, no, that was just a movie, guys. I go, it's all fake. Look at my face. I go, I look good, right? I was like, you know, I go, this and that. They go, we still got some, I go, it's still the makeup.
I don't know. I just didn't want them watching it, you know? So they kind of understood it. And then now, now they understand everything, and I can't lie about it anymore. So I have to try to just explain to them, it's a job. It's what I do. I'm not out here looking for fights. I'm not out here, you know, like it doesn't mean you have the right to go to school and do something, you know, it's just... There's a lot of things that happen with that, because then, believe it or not, just because you're a fighter and people realize that, they just assume weird shit, you know? Like my kid got into a fight one time, and everyone was like, of course, because your dad's a fighter. I was like, hold on, it wasn't because he was defending himself and doing the right thing, it was just... So, you know, it becomes tricky. No, it was the teachers and the parents, yeah. They're like, oh, he's teaching his kids to be there.