BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Brian Ortega could be switching divisions after being hospitalized prior to his last fight.

Ortega’s matchup against Aljamain Sterling in the UFC Fight Night 257 co-headliner last month was originally scheduled for featherweight, but the fight was moved to lightweight after Ortega was hospitalized while trying to make weight. He lost the five-round fight by unanimous decision.

Ortega, a former UFC title challenger at 145 pounds, now has lost four of his past five outings but has no regrets making the walk.

“I mean, for the real ones in this game, it comes with ups and downs, and right now it’s been a down,” Ortega told MMA Junkie at the L.A. premiere of “The Smashing Machine.” “I’ve had people still support me, but obviously you can see the hate coming through a lot of angles. So in my career, I’m always going to be with my head high. That’s always the goal, but we’ve been hit a little bit lately, but it’s all good. At the end of the day, I take pride in saying I went for it.”

Ortega (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) opened up on what happened during his struggle while cutting weight in Shanghai.

“It was the first time in my career where I passed out,” Ortega explained. “I went into a 30-minute coma. I was cutting weight, went into a 30-minute coma, woke up in the hospital, and they said, ‘Yo, Aljo’s still ready to fight you if you’re down.’ I was like, ‘What?’ Ripped everything off in the ER, I couldn’t speak Mandarin in China, but I just, I kind of signaled like, ‘Yo, take all the IVs out everything.’

“And from there got an Uber, rushed to the weigh-ins, weighed in. And then I even spoke with him, I said, ‘Yo, bro, like I just came out of the hospital.’ But I was like, ‘I’m going to show up.’ He told me they had a backup, but I was like, ‘Bro, like I’ll be there. I’ll be there.’ And that’s kind of what it is. You just show up, and embarrassment, it’s a feeling that not too many people have discovered, but it’s something that we pay the price for going after our dreams.”

As for what’s next, Ortega thinks it could be time to make a permanent move to lightweight.

“I took a month off, I’m already jumping back into training,” Ortega said. “And we’re looking for a future venue here, and we’re talking about a potential move up to ’55, and now we’re just looking for the opponent. I can’t say nothing, but it’s going to be dope from from what I’m hearing.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC veteran opens up on future after scary weight cut before loss

MMA Mixed Martial Arts News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos