True or False: Brian Ortega should retire with UFC Mexico loss

True or False is a new series by FanSided MMA where we take a deep dive into a statement to determine if the statement is true or false.

Brian Ortega (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will be stepping back into the Octagon for the first time since July 2022. Before the hiatus, he fell 1-4 losing three fights after going undefeated until 2018.

At one time, Ortega was on the fast-track to a title but after losing to former champion Max Holloway and to then-champion Alexander Volkanovski, MMA fans began writing him off.

The last view we had of Ortega was his loss to Yair Rodriguez via shoulder injury but MMA fans only remember you for your last fight and it wasn't good.

Fans have been called for Ortega to retire for years.

Even the current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria called for Ortega's retirement.

"Max, Yair, Brian Ortega, all of them, they can go and retire. I’m never going to give them a chance to fight for the title,” Topuria said while on The MMA Hour before UFC 298.

Brian Ortega still has a lot of fight left

Unfortunately for them, I think they are all wrong. Ortega should not retire, even if he loses on Saturday.

Of his losses, two were to former champions and two of the best to ever fight. The other was an injury, so let's not count that.

He'll rematch Rodriguez at UFC Mexico, and as long as he plans to stay active, he should not retire. He's still young and, with a bit more activity could be competitive again. Now, that's not to say I think he'll be champion one day, but he still has a few more years left in his career.

Also, for the record, let's stop telling professional athletes when to hang up their gloves. It's insulting and not up to us.