Aljamain Sterling vs. Brian Ortega was elevated to a five-round co-main event, but perhaps those extra rounds weren’t necessary.
In Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 257 co-main event, Sterling (20-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC) cruised to a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) win over Ortega (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) at Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai.
Initially a featherweight bout, the fight was moved to a 153-pound catchweight due to a rough Ortega weight cut. Ortega appeared staggeringly weak during Friday’s faceoff but looked a bit more fresh when he stepped in the cage a day-and-a-half later.
However, his output appeared to be that of someone who was preserving their gas tank. In the first round, Ortega threw two strikes. Sterling utilized leg kicks and his jab and circled Ortega, who was unable to muster up any significant offense until the fifth round. Ortega had a good sequence but a tired Sterling then took him down and ground-and-pounded him.
After the win, Sterling called for a shot at UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, though he’ll likely have to wait in line behind Lerone Murphy and/or Movsar Evloev.
The victory for Sterling was his second in three appearances in the UFC featherweight division. He defeated Calvin Kattar by unanimous decision before a loss to Movsar Evloev by unanimous decision.
Ortega, 34, falls to 1-4 in his most recent five fights. He’s long teased a move to lightweight. After Friday’s weight issue it could be time.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Shanghai results:
- Aljamain Sterling def. Brian Ortega via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
- Sergei Pavlovich def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Su Mudaerji def. Kevin Borjas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Taiyilake Nueraji def. Kiefer Crosbie via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:33
- Gauge Young def. Hayisaer Maheshate via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Charles Johnson def. Lone’er Kavanagh via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:35
- Rong Zhu def. Austin Hubbard via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Kyle Daukaus def. Michel Pereira via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:43
- Yi Zha def. Westin Wilson via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:37
- SuYoung You def. Xiao Long via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Uran Satybaldiev def. Diyar Nurgozhay via submission (Ezekiel choke) – Round 1, 2:45
