The official beer of the UFC picked a solid choice for the latest subject of the company’s “Fighting Spirit” commercial campaign.

“Everything I’ve ever done has always been a fight, and I’ve never quit, and I’ve always had this strong spirit with me,” UFC featherweight Brian Ortega told MMAjunkie.

Ortega (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), of course, was in action most recently at December’s UFC 231, where the attending doctor waved off his title fight with current champ Max Holloway at the end of the fourth round. Despite the loss, “T-City” was universally praised for his gutsy effort, refusing to quit despite suffering incredibly obvious damage.

Despite the result, Modelo rewarded Ortega a starring role in their latest spot.

“They said, ‘You are what we’re looking for,” Ortega said. “‘We’re looking for the fighting spirit. We’re looking for stories of people who have had to go through crazy trouble, these ups and downs, and still come out on top.’ They go, ‘That’s you.’ I was honored by that. I told them, ‘I’m honored, I’m humbled, and let’s get this show cracking.'”

And so Ortega returns to the spotlight despite suffering the first loss of his professional career. The commercial releases the same week Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry also gave him a shoutout on Twitter.

All about this #ManCrushMonday, @BrianTcity – the #1 @UFC ranked featherweight 👊🏾! So grateful he said yes to training with me in preparation for #BruisedTheMovie, and cannot wait to share what we cook up together 🔥 pic.twitter.com/bPNTggc9SM — Halle Berry (@halleberry) February 25, 2019

In short, the setback hasn’t seemed to set him back all that far.

“I feel like I’ve been blessed because there’s a lot of people who take a loss in their career, and a lot of people, the fans, they tend to forget about you,” Ortega said. “It just tends to be a rough patch in a lot of fighters’ lives. But for me, I left it all in there. I left it all in that cage. I did not have one reserve on me.

“I threw it all out, and I gave my fans – I literally cut my heart open that night, and I gave it to you guys, and I feel like everyone respected me for that. They loved me for that. It was my first loss, but if there was a way I was going to lose, I’m happy it was that way.”

Of course, Ortega admits his positive attitude didn’t emerge immediately after he left the cage at UFC 231. Bruised and bloodied, Ortega would require surgeries for a broken hand and broken nose. He also said he just didn’t feel himself in the cage that night, and no amount of praise of his durability would make up for coming up short of the title.

“It was bad for a little bit,” Ortega said. “I’ll be honest. I didn’t watch the fight until I want to say, maybe a month. I was kind of just sad, honestly, that things didn’t work out my way, but I knew that wasn’t me that night, and I was just frustrated, even given that, yeah, you have a heart, you have a chin. OK. That still wasn’t me though. I’m glad that the people know that about me, but that’s not the Brian Ortega that could have been in there that night.

“It just did not work out well for me that night.”

As time wore on, Ortega knew there was only one way to truly move past his disappointment. He had to watch the fight. Once he did, “T-City” said he was actually somewhat pleased with what he saw.

“Finally, I said, ‘You know what, let me get this right,'” Ortega said. “‘Let me look at the fight. It’s time to really face reality here. Let’s go. Let’s move forward.’ Once I did, I saw the fight for the first time, I wasn’t that upset. I said, you know what? I did better than I thought I had.

“It didn’t happen, and I was upset, but overall I’m happy with the way it played out. There was one way to lose, and usually when you lose, your stock goes down. My stock went up.”

Ortega said he’s still about six weeks out from his surgeries being cleared and getting back to full training. In the meantime, he is keeping an eye on the division, and with Holloway moving up to 155 pounds for an interim lightweight title fight with Dustin Poirier at April’s UFC 236, Ortega said he thinks a fight with former champ Jose Aldo (28-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) would make sense for a summer return, maybe even in Los Angeles.

“I’m looking at this division, and I’m seeing Max move up – I don’t know if he’s going to come back down, especially if he becomes successful,” Ortega said. “I have no idea what that situation is. He’s got a great fight in front of him. I’m a fan of both of them, actually, in that fight. I look at the division right now, and I only see me and Aldo, if that makes sense.”

Ortega currently sits at No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, with Aldo just behind at No. 3, so the contest certainly has merit. And Ortega thinks it could have some real stakes behind it, as well.

“I see Aldo beat the guys I didn’t fight, and I beat the guys that Aldo didn’t fight,” Ortega said. “I feel like together, we kind of beat the whole division, and he’s coming off a good two-fight wining streak. I’m coming off really which is my first loss, and not in a bad way.

“We’re at the top, so if Max decides to stay, we might make it for the belt, and if he comes back down, we’ll fight each other to fight Max again.”

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