Gallery Joseph Benavidez def. Dustin Ortiz at UFC on ESPN+ 1: Best photos view 13 images

After four-plus years and 14 fights in the UFC, veteran flyweight Dustin Ortiz is now a free agent.

“I ran with it,” Ortiz (19-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) today told MMAjunkie. “I gave it everything I had. It’s disappointing that they’re doing away with the division – if that’s what they’re doing.”

Ortiz, 30, was one of many UFC flyweights to receive a call from the promotion offering a release from contract. Instead, he accepted an alternative offer to fulfill his final obligation in a rematch with two-time title challenger Joseph Benavidez (27-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC). After three closely contested rounds, he lost a unanimous decision.

“It didn’t go my way, unfortunately, but it’s time for me to take a step back and say hey, what do I want to do?” he said.

Ortiz’s contract status came to light when UFC flyweight champ Henry Cejudo told MMAjunkie that he was cut from the promotion. He said that characterization isn’t completely accurate.

“It just kind of sparked me the way he said it, like I lost and they released me because I was no longer good enough,” he said. “It didn’t sit well with me. I’m no longer under contract, and I’m a free agent now, and that’s why I’ll be fighting at 125 the next couple of fights.”

A particularly attractive option is a move to ONE Championship, which recently acquired former UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson in a trade. The Asia-based MMA promotion is conducting tournaments at 125 pounds and 155 pounds. Brackets and competitors have yet to be announced.

RIZIN also is a potential host. The Japan-based promotion signed Justin Scoggins for its New Year’s Eve event this past December. Ortiz owns a split call win over the ex-UFC flyweight.

And Ortiz said a return to the UFC isn’t completely off the table. UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard expressed interest in his return at bantamweight, but he needed to make a deal with co-matchmaker Sean Shelby, who controls the division.

The top choice would be to face Johnson.

“I would love nothing more to fight D.J.,” Ortiz said. “It doesn’t matter what organization. He’s still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters ever, and to have that opportunity would truly be like nothing else.”

Ortiz said MMA fans underestimate the challenge of moving up from flyweight to bantamweight in the UFC. He cited flyweight contender Sergio Pettis’ loss to career bantam Rob Font as an example of the physical disadvantages at play in the octagon.

But with no other option, there are few other alternatives for those who want to stay in the UFC. Although the promotion has downplayed recent cuts to the flyweight division, Ortiz doesn’t see it surviving.

“I truly believe that they’re letting guys fight out their contract,” he said. “They come off a loss, they’re going to release them from their contract and just kind of do away with it and make an announcement that Henry is moving up to 135 and there will no longer be any (flyweight) fights in the UFC. That’ll be it. It’s pretty disheartening for all the fighters that have fought and put everything into this sport just to be done away with so effortlessly.”

And yet, Ortiz chooses to look on the bright side.

“I’m taking it as a good thing,” he said. “I did my job. I continue to do my job. That’s why I was with the UFC for so long. It’s not like I got fired. I believe they’re doing away with the entire division. If I get that opportunity to fight (Johnson), or any of these other 125-pounders, there’s so many 125-ers out there that are good. If that’s the direction we want to go, that’s the direction.

“The whole thing is disappointing on how they’re going about it. You have other fighters in other weight classes in the UFC, they don’t even care. That’s even more disheartening that we have people in the same company in the same industry that loves to do what you do and have that same passion, and could care less if you fight or not. It’s a dog-eat-dog business, and that’s how it goes. It’s not life or death. This is the job.

“People talk about what a sacrifice it is to fight. Man, we’re all blessed to be able to fight and be healthy and continue to do it.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.