Brian Ortega may be in trouble after an altercation he had with Korean-American Hip-hop artist Jay Park, who is a friend of “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung at UFC 248 on March 7. Jung and Park attended the event together and allegedly Ortega slapped Park while Jung was in the bathroom. MMA Junkie’s Nolan King reports per Jung management that a police report has been filed against Ortega for slapping Park. This was a result of an interview ESPN’s Ariel Helwani did on the “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” with Jung in which Park was helping Jung with translating.
In the comment section of the video, Ortega sounded off on the accusation that he ducked fighting Jung and more importantly alludes to slapping Park if they were to see each other. In referencing to Park, Ortega said: “Park welcome to the fight game don’t be surprised if I slap the shit out you when I see you.”
Ortega has been silent since the alleged altercation. UFC President Dana White confirmed that an altercation took place, but didn’t have the details as to why and wanted to hopefully avoid legal action. In a statement taken by MMA Junkie, White said “Listen, we don’t want that,” White said. “We don’t want anyone getting arrested.” The UFC seems to also want to have a matchup with Ortega and Jung, which White confirmed for MMAJunkie.
Jung has responded to what happened at UFC 248 between Park and Ortega on Instagram.
?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">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.
As of now, no update on if the UFC will discipline Ortega or if they will get involved at all. Jung is looking to fight for the featherweight championship but seems willing to fight Ortega as seen in his Instagram caption.
Park appeared on the “Ariel Helwani MMA Show” today and shared his side of what happened at UFC 248. Park spoke on how he was translating what Jung had said in the interview and that he was actually a fan of Ortega. He also said “To be honest I don’t feel I did anything wrong, I just translated. I’ve never put words in Zombie’s mouth. I’ve never put up a caption for him. I’ve never told him to trash talk.”
When speaking on the altercation, Park said “When Zombie went to the bathroom, all of a sudden I just see someone pull up. He was like ‘hey dog are you Jay Park’. It kind of just caught me by surprise and I said yeah, as I stood up he like smacked me.” Park then went on to say “It was very narrow, there are chairs behind me and so I kind of fell back. Then I got up and pushed him.” He then said that a scuffle happened and they got pulled separated.
?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">They have no clue what I have sacrificed. #2020
Helwani asked Park if it hurt him and Park said that “His jaw is a little stiff, but nothing too serious.” He says he was mad at the time, but not anymore. When speaking on pressing charges, Park said “The UFC staff came over to me and asked do you want to press charges? At the time, after I calmed down, I was like ‘Nah it’s whatever’. Park went on to say, “Zombie’s team and his wife said ‘We can’t let him get away with this.’ You have to press charges, so we will see how it goes.”
He says that a police report has been filed, but he has no wish to see Ortega in jail or take money from him. Time will tell what will happen to Ortega and if the UFC will book a fight between him and Jung in the near future.
