Ortega vs. Sterling: Weight Change in the UFC Fight Night Card
A featherweight clash between Brian Ortega and Aljamain Sterling is set for Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Shanghai, albeit with a significant change.
Ortega and Sterling will face each other in the lightweight category, with a limit of 155 pounds, after both fighters registered 153 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in. The UFC has not offered an official explanation for this change. It is widely known that Ortega has had difficulty meeting the featherweight limit of 145 pounds and has considered permanently moving up a category.
The fight, which is not for the title, is scheduled for five rounds and will serve as the co-main event of UFC Fight Night at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Sterling, former bantamweight champion, moved up to featherweight after his title defeat against Sean O’Malley in August 2019. The 36-year-old fighter is seeking a second UFC belt and has a 1-1 record in his new weight class. His most recent loss was against Movsar Evloev in December.
Ortega has a 1-3 record in his last four appearances, although two of those losses were against undisputed or interim champions, such as Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez.
