Brian Ortega‘s memorable walkout at UFC 266, inspired by the horror film The Purge, stemmed from his frustration with noisy upstairs neighbors disrupting his sleep during fight preparation.
Brian Ortega produced one of the most creative and memorable walkouts in recent history. He and his coaches marched to the cage, masks on, music inspired by the horror film The Purge. But there’s a darker story behind that entrance, especially as he prepared to fight Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266.
Around September 2021, Ortega faced a disturbance in his apartment while prepping for the UFC featherweight title. Noisy upstairs neighbors kept him awake after long gym days.
“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.” The noise was relentless—2 AM, 3 AM, 4 AM. “Do you guys go to sleep? What’s going on? Come on now.”
One night, while scrolling through Instagram reels, he stumbled upon The Purge song. He started fantasizing—if The Purge were real, he’d go upstairs first.
The Purge, a 2013 horror film by James DeMonaco, depicts a dystopian future where crime is almost eradicated due to an annual event allowing all crimes for 12 hours. Sirens signal its start.
Hearing a remix with those sirens got Ortega thinking about legalized crime and his noisy neighbors. “I’m not a snitch or complainer but dude,” he said. Even calling the landlord didn’t help.
“They snitched on me before for playing rough with my kids,” Ortega recalled. “I was running around saying ‘I’m going to kill you!’ and they almost called the cops.” After complaining about the noise, it seemed to get worse.
“If The Purge was real,” he thought repeatedly, “I’d go upstairs and handle business.” This idea stuck with him and eventually led to using The Purge theme for his walkout against Volkanovski.
“I stayed up all night thinking about it,” Ortega confessed. He imagined wearing a mask and hoodie—what mask would he choose? How would he approach their house? This concept evolved into his walkout plan.
He channeled his frustration into this performance: $5 masks and a song selection that UFC later changed before his octagon walk. “The original song was scarier,” Ortega said. He wanted to scare the crowd.
Though UFC nixed that version of the song, they allowed another remix featuring The Purge sirens for his memorable walkout. His coaches wore matching outfits; everyone understood the theme.
“I told them I wanted to kill my neighbors at that time,” Ortega said candidly. His managers supported the idea: "OK, let’s go for it."
Now it’s considered one of the best walkouts ever—a frequent topic of conversation. It worked out perfectly.