Heading into their co-headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 257, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling knew what Brian Ortega was up to.
“I knew there was only one reason why he wanted it to be five rounds, and that was to get me in the later rounds because I have shown in the past to fade a little bit,” Sterling said during an interview on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “But I was also cutting a tremendous amount of weight getting down to (135 pounds).”
That was far from being the case this time, especially once their originally scheduled featherweight scrap was moved to a 153-pound catchweight thanks to Ortega’s struggles on the scale. The result? A one-sided unanimous decision win for Sterling, who earned 50-45 scores from all three judges Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.
Given their backgrounds as grapplers, many observers expected the fight to take place on the mat. But in an unexpected development, Sterling (20-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC) was able to show off his striking thanks, in large part, to Ortega’s hesitation to engage and his willingness to simply feint on his feet. In the first round, Ortega (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) threw just two strikes.
That lack of activity was all Sterling needed to win in a manner he’s not accustomed to.
“I was happy I got to show off my striking,” Sterling said. “Guys think I can’t box, they think I can’t kick, they think my striking is complete sh*t. Dude, I fight unorthodox because I like to take as little damage as possible. These guys come into the fights, they want to actually get into a back-and-forth. I’m here to win, I’m here to dominate, I’m here to make it look easy, and if that makes you think I can’t strike, then step in there with me and see what happens.”
It wasn’t until the fifth round that Ortega mustered up any sort of offense, but Sterling resorted to taking him down to preserve the win.
“Even in the grappling exchanges, he didn’t want to grapple,” Sterling said. “He wanted to punch me in the face. He landed some big shots from his back. I was like, ‘Holy sh*t, this guy’s got some pop.’ I wasn’t about to just let him punch me in the face the whole time, so I started just opening up on the ground.”
Sterling, whose right arm was wrapped post-fight because of a spinning back elbow he landed, called out UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski during his octagon interview with Michael Bisping. Backstage, though, Sterling’s tune was different, saying he wouldn’t be surprised to see Volkanovski fight unbeaten Lerone Murphy, who “earned it” with his devastating knockout of Aaron Pico last week at UFC 319.
That said, Sterling won’t say no if the UFC decides to give him the opportunity.
