Brian Ortega Allegedly Assaults Korean Zombie’s Translator At UFC 248

March 9, 2020

Insert “had a choice” meme here.

Brian Ortega reportedly assaulted Korean singer and Chan Sung Jung’s translator Jay Park at UFC 248. News broke that Ortega waited until Jung left to use the bathroom before engaging with Park. Following the altercation, Ortega was escorted from the building.

Korean music artist Jay Park, who served as Chan Sung Jung’s translator during his recent appearance on the show, was slapped by Brian Ortega during tonight’s event, Park tells me. A scuffle ensued and then broken up. Ortega took issue with Park’s translation on the show.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 8, 2020

According to a past Instagram comment made by Ortega, the issue was started over comments made by Park while translating for Jung in the build up to his scrapped fight with Ortega earlier this year. In response, Jung released a statement over Instagram detailing his anger with Ortega and a promise to punish him in the octagon.

View this post on Instagram

Last night, you sat 10 meters away from me and Jay Park. For two hours nothing happened, so I thought everything was fine. But you fucking attacked Jay Park while I went to the bathroom. Jay Park is not a professional fighter but a musician. You slapped a civilian who merely helped translate. Even worse, you were sitting there waiting until I would be absent and attacked Jay Park. It was not a fight like real men would do. What you have done is same as a grown up to beat a child. You should have attacked me. If so, I would have not been upset. You are such a coward for slapping a musician not a fighter. If you fucking planned this to fight me and to use my name because people don't remember your name anymore, then I congratulate you, it worked. I will fight you and I will knock you out and your fucking face will be bloody. Now, your fucking face stays in my mind and I will fuck you up in the cage. I hope you won’t run away from me again.

A post shared by 정찬성 (@koreanzombiemma) on Mar 8, 2020 at 5:23pm PDT

In a statement made by Jung’s management team Iridium Sports to MMA Junkie, police reports were filed immediately after the incident.

“Both teams were contacted prior to last night’s event and were asked by the UFC to be respectful and to not have any confrontations,” House wrote. “Our team respected the UFC’s request and maintained our professionalism throughout the night. Police reports were filed immediately after the incident occurred and now it’s a matter for law enforcement officials to handle. Korean Zombie has always been a class act and will continue to be. Our objective remains the same; to put ourselves in the best position both inside and outside the cage to become the featherweight champion this year,” said Iridium Sports manager Jason House.

Having to pull from his last fight due to ACL issues, Ortega has been removed from the spotlight for over a year and a half. This action flies against his old public persona of being very cordial with opponents Like Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway.

Fortunately for Ortega, Park has no plans to sue him.