Tomorrow in the co-main event of UFC Shanghai, we are going to see a five-round matchup between a former world champion and a former title challenger. Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (24-5) will be taking on former featherweight title challenger Brian “T-City” Ortega (16-4).
This fight is one that we thought we were going to lose last night. There were reports that Brian Ortega had feinted during the weight cut and the fight was off. Then out of no where, it was announced by UFC officials that the fight was still on but it would be contested at a catchweight of 153 pounds. With that, we can move into the preview.
Starting out with the former champion, he’s looking to bounce back after his first loss at 145. After Aljamain Sterling lost the bantamweight title, he moved up to featherweight clearing the way for his teammate Merab Dvalishvili to take over 135. Sterling made his featherweight debut at UFC 300 where he defeated Calvin Kattar.
In his last fight, he took on unbeaten Movsar Evloev in December. Had Sterling won that fight, he likely would be challenging Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title. However, after a strong start, Sterling lost the final two rounds and that decision.
Now he’ll take on Brian Ortega. T-City started his career 14-0 leading him to his first UFC title shot. Starting with that title shot, Ortega is just 2-4 in his last six fights and he’s dealt with a number of injuries. In February 2024, he had an incredibly impressive submission win over Yair Rodriguez.
That led him to a title eliminator against Diego Lopes at Noche UFC and ultimately he fell short in that one. Now, he’ll try to take out the former bantamweight champ.
UFC Shanghai Prediction
I am very curious to see how this one plays out tomorrow. Both of these men are tremendous grapplers in their own way. Sterling is the better wrestler and living up to his nickname, he’s very funky on the ground. He uses his skills to get to the back of his opponents where he dominates with control.
On pure jiu jitsu, I think that T-City is the better grappler and his submission abilities could give Sterling some problems at UFC Shanghai. That said, I think that Sterling’s wrestling and Ortega’s willingness to be on the bottom could lead to Sterling having a lot of control in this matchup.
On the feet, I actually give Sterling the advantage. A few years ago, Ortega had made serious strides in his striking, but I really haven’t seen anything impressive as of late. Sterling is going to be the faster of the two and I think his ability to use range with his kicks will earn him points on the feet.
I like Aljamain Sterling in this matchup. If the fight doesn’t go to the scorecards, my thought is that Ortega would have won. However, I do think this fight goes 25 minutes and ultimately there’s just more potential for Sterling getting the points and control he needs to walk out of UFC Shanghai with a win.
Prediction: Aljamain Sterling by Decision
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