Brian Ortega produced one of the most creative and memorable walkouts in recent history when he and his coaches all marched to the cage accompanied by masks and music inspired by the horror film The Purge. But the true story behind that entrance actually came from a much darker place as he was getting ready to fight Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266.
It turns out that around the time of that September 2021 main event, Ortega frequently experienced a disturbance of his apartment while preparing to compete for the UFC featherweight title. Unfortunately for the fighter, some noisy upstairs neighbors prevented Ortega from getting the rest that he needed at night after a long day spent in the gym.
“At that time, I was living in an apartment,” Ortega explained during UFC 303 media day. “I had left the house and everything when I separated and there’s this neighbor upstairs [making noise] that every hour, it was like 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning, 4 in the morning, I’m like dude, do you guys go to sleep? What’s going on? Come on now. I’ve got a fight I’ve got to train for, I’ve got a world title, what are you guys doing?
“I was watching some reels or something [on Instagram] and The Purge song came on and I started fantasizing, not the best thing, but if The Purge was real, the first thing I’m doing is I’m going upstairs.”
The Purge is a 2013 horror film, written and directed by James DeMonaco, about a dystopian future where the United States has become almost completely free of crime thanks to a one-night-per-year event called “The Purge,” during which all criminal acts—including murder—are completely legal for 12 hours. In the film, to signal that The Purge has started, loud sirens are sounded across the entire U.S.
After hearing a remix featuring the sirens from The Purge, Ortega started contemplating what he would do if suddenly all crimes were temporarily legalized, particularly in regards to his neighbors.
“I’m not a snitch, I’m not a complainer but dude, I even hit up the landlord like, ‘Yo, can you tell them to be quiet, please?’” Ortega said. “I know they snitched on me before because I’ve been playing with my kids a little too rough. Like I was running around one time and I was like ‘I’m going to kill you!’ and the kids were screaming and they were about to call the cops because they thought I was going to kill my kids. To me it wasn’t that crazy, that’s how we play around, but I never said nothing. Finally, I said hey, these guys or whoever’s up there, I don’t want to be rude but come on now. It feels like they’re dragging something across the floor all night. If you need help, let me know!
“After I complained, I swear it kept happening like they doubled down on it. So that was just in my head like dude, if The Purge was real, I’d go upstairs and just handle business.”
As issues with his upstairs neighbors continued, Ortega just kept going back to that same scenario in his head, which eventually led to the idea that perhaps he could use The Purge to create a really cool walkout for his fight against Volkanovski.
“I don’t know why, I would stay up all night, I’m like The Purge, that song, I found a remix to it and I was like if I had the mask, what mask would I wear to commit these crimes?” Ortega confessed. “How would I approach their house? That was the concept. Just be all hoodied up, with a lighted mask and then I was like what if I walked out to this? Wouldn’t that be dope?”
He ultimately channeled his disdain for his neighbors into his walkout, which included $5 masks and a song selection that the UFC actually changed before he walked to the octagon.
“The song I originally had was a little more scary,” Ortega said. “It felt like a little more real. So I was hoping to make everyone in the crowd kind of get scared a bit.”
While the UFC nixed that version of the song, he was still allowed to use a different remix featuring The Purge sirens to create his memorable walkout.
His coaches also wore the exact same outfits and Ortega says everybody in his entourage definitely understood the theme he had in mind.
“I told them I wanted to kill my neighbors. At that time,” Ortega said. “That was the theme and the idea behind that. I called my managers and everyone and told them my idea and they’re like OK, let’s go for it.
“Now it’s one of the best walkouts ever when it’s being a conversation of topics. It worked out.”
