FRESNO, Calif. – UFC President Dana White is very high on Brian Ortega’s potential following a submission win over Cub Swanson in UFC Fight Night 123’s main event – just not high enough to give him a title shot.

Ortega (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) earned his biggest win to date on Saturday when he submitted Swanson (25-8 MMA, 10-4 UFC) with a second-round guillotine of their featherweight headliner, which took place at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., and aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. With five straight UFC wins, all by stoppage, “T-City” got himself noticed by the UFC boss.

“Without a doubt, this kid’s obviously the future,” White told MMAjunkie following UFC Fight Night 123. “Cub Swanson looked incredible tonight. … The problem is, this Ortega kid, if he even puts his hands on you man – and he had him in the first round, and I’ve never seen a guy up in a guillotine choke like that and lets go, repositions his hands, and gets the choke. Against a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt too. Unbelievable. Incredible performance that definitely puts this kid on the map.”

Ortega is on the map, but he won’t be fighting for the belt next, White confirmed. That honor goes to former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (22-5-1 MMA, 16-5-1 UFC), who was forced to pull out of a scheduled UFC 218 title fight with champ Max Holloway (19-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) earlier this month.

Edgar was also in attendance at UFC Fight Night 123 and told MMAjunkie he’s on the verge of being cleared for competition and could fight Holloway as soon as March. A number of things could happen to alter those plans, but as of now, White said Holloway vs. Edgar is the next 145-pound title fight.

“There’s no way that Ortega jumps over Frankie,” White said. “Definitely not. … It all depends on timing. When do we fight again? Who’s ready? Who’s not?

“But yeah, Frankie definitely seems like the No. 1 contender.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Events section of the site.