Ortega vs. Sterling: Weight Change for the Shanghai Fight
The highly anticipated featherweight clash between Brian Ortega and Aljamain Sterling will take place at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Shanghai, albeit with a significant change in weight class.
Ortega (16-4) and Sterling (24-5) will face each other in the lightweight division, with a limit of 155 pounds, after both fighters weighed in at 153 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in.
The UFC has not revealed the official reason for this change, but it is known that Ortega has had difficulties reaching the featherweight limit of 145 pounds and has considered a permanent category change.
The fight, scheduled for five rounds, will be the co-main event of UFC Fight Night at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Sterling, former 135-pound champion, moved up to featherweight after losing his title to 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 category. His most recent loss was against number one contender, Movsar Evloev, in December.
Ortega holds a 1-3 record in his last four appearances, although two of those losses were against undisputed or interim champions like Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez.
