Brian Ortega is still competing tomorrow morning (Sat.., Aug. 23, 2025) at UFC Shanghai from Shanghai, China, but not after an apparent ride in an ambulance.
On Thursday evening, it was revealed that Ortega was not going to be able to make weight for his co-main event matchup against fellow UFC featherweight Aljamain Sterling. “T-City” was reportedly in rough shape and couldn’t even make it to the scale. The fight was subsequently canceled.
However, not long after that it was announced that the fight was still on, but this time it was to be contested at a catchweight of 153 pounds. Fight fans didn’t know what to think considering Ortega’s weight cut was so bad that the fight was initially scrapped. Even oddsmakers scrambled to adjust to the news.
On Friday, a video surfaced that was posted yesterday by UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, who is in Shanghai to help corner “Funk Master.” The video shows an ambulance outside of the UFC fighter hotel presumably carrying Ortega. It’s unknown at this time the severity of Ortega’s weight cut or what happened to him after he got into the ambulance, but he got enough care to be able to compete this weekend.
“Weight cutting is never easy. Thank God everybody is safe and fight is still on,” wrote Merab.
What do you think about all of this? How will Ortega look tomorrow morning? Should he even be fighting at this point?
