'All Good Now': Jay Park Reconciles With Fighter Who Slapped Him in 2020

Jay Park and UFC fighter Brian Ortega went public with a reconciliation on the 28th, ending a dispute that had started backstage at a Las Vegas fight card in March 2020. The two posted a photo together on social media, arms around each other's shoulders, both looking directly at the camera, a fairly unambiguous signal that whatever tension remained had been put to rest.

Ortega's caption kept it brief: "All good. We respect each other," followed by Korean and Mexican flag emojis. Park left a comment on the post that added a little more texture. "It was already resolved," he wrote. "Those who know, know. Respect. As I said, I was a fan."

What happened at UFC 248

The original incident took place in March 2020 at UFC 248, held in Las Vegas. Park had traveled to the event to serve as a translator for Jung Chan-sung, the Korean MMA fighter known internationally as The Korean Zombie, who was signed to Park's label AOMG at the time. During the weigh-in or pre-fight exchange, a miscommunication arose between Park's translations and Ortega's camp.

Ortega's response was physical. Park described it himself months later on the MBC variety show Radio Star in November of that year, saying he had softened some of Jung's language during translation and that the other side apparently interpreted that as deliberate manipulation. "I think they thought I was stirring things up," Park said. He described being hit without warning: "Ortega slapped me in private. I was completely off guard." The impact, he said, was significant enough that his jaw was knocked out of alignment and his molars didn't meet properly for a month.

Six years later

The public nature of Monday's reconciliation is notable mostly because the original incident was never formally addressed in the years between. Park had spoken about it openly on Korean television, but there was no public response from Ortega at the time, and the two appeared to have simply moved on without resolution.

That the makeup came through social media, in two languages, with both men keeping the tone measured rather than performative, fits the broader pattern of how public figures in both the K-pop and combat sports worlds tend to handle these things now: a photo, a short statement, and no extended explanation. For Park, who has spent years building credibility as both a label founder and a cultural bridge between Korean and American hip-hop, closing this particular chapter quietly probably suits him just fine.