• Brian Ortega and Korean Zombie compete in a widely-anticipated featherweight match Saturday which could determine the No.1 challenger to the UFC championship.
• The fighters have a particularly storied rivalry which includes a fight last year which was canceled because of injury, a slap in the crowd during the last fan-attended UFC event, and accusations of cowardice.
• Ortega insists this is no grudge match, though. But did say they will still fight with the bad intentions.
• "I hope Abu Dhabi has good hospitals because we're both going to be in that s— by the end of the night," Ortega said.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

FIGHT ISLAND — Brian Ortega said his UFC Fight Island featherweight match against Chan Sung Jung — better known as the Korean Zombie — will be so brutal they'll both end up in the hospital.

"I hope Abu Dhabi has good hospitals because we're both going to be in that s— by the end of the night," said Ortega during a media day which Insider attended Wednesday.

"There's no need to trash talk [but] I have nothing but bad intentions for him when we both go in there."

The anticipated bout, which could decide a No.1 challenger for Alexander Volkanovski's championship in the 145-pound division, brings together two rivals with a storied past. The pair were supposed to fight last year but a long-term injury ruled Ortega out.

They were in close proximity to each other in March at UFC 248 in Las Vegas — the last fan-attended UFC event before the coronavirus forced live events behind-closed-doors.

As Korean Zombie does not speak fluent English he is reliant on a translator. At the time it was Jay Park, a 33-year-old rapper and singer, who helped.

According to The Guardian, Ortega, annoyed at a Park translation which suggested the Californian was ducking a fight with Korean Zombie, approached Park in the crowd and open-palm slapped him in the face at the event.

The Korean Zombie was livid. And wrote a message for Ortega on his Instagram account, saying that he only slapped Park when he realized the Zombie had gone to the bathroom.

"You f—— attacked Jay Park while I went to the bathroom," he said. "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. You are such a coward for slapping a musician not a fighter."

He finished: "If you f—— 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 f—— face will be bloody."

Ortega issued an apology on Twitter.

Photos by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ortega insists Saturday's fight is no grudge match

The rivalry appears to have cooled somewhat.

The two 145-pounders have been in the same room together during brief moments on Fight Island, and even attended a face-off on the Yas Island beach in front of reporters and the UFC President Dana White, where they were both well behaved.

Ortega insists Saturday's fight is not a grudge match.

"No, not at all," he said. "I could see how it would be that way because of my actions but it was ultimately like we were talking too much, starting to get pissed.

"Now little people are chiming in. If you really want to go war with me, this is just the beginning. I could get petty as f—. I don't want to, it's unprofessional, but it's not the worst thing that's happened in the UFC.

"It was very clear, let's stop this s—, and do what we started. The whole world had eyes on us and we didn't have to have s— talking."

Ortega and Korean Zombie headline the UFC Fight Island 6 event at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Other matches on the card include a women's flyweight bout between Katlyn Chookagian and Jessica Andrade, and a particularly spicy fight between two lightweights, Mateusz Gamrot and Guram Kutateladze.

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