After Brian Ortega's condition at the UFC Shanghai weigh-ins caused a lot of concern, his co-main event bout with Aljamain Sterling ultimately seemed to prove that the fight going on -- let alone it being five rounds -- was not worth it.
Sterling completely dominated the opening round by default, as he outstruck Ortega, who barely had much activity, 23-2. Ortega continued to not do much of anything in the second round -- a round that saw the two get booed by the crowd and Herb Dean controversially pausing the action after Ortega claimed a punch to be an eye poke, and Sterling allowed the break instead of capitalizing.
Sterling continued to use his strikes to his advantage during the third round, mixing in leg kicks that busted up one of Ortega's legs. Ortega tried to get a flurry going in the final minute of the round, but his pace dwindled again during the fourth round. Sterling scored a takedown in the final minute of the fourth round and landed some ground strikes on Ortega, who was desperate to land anything.
Sterling scored another pair of takedowns in the fifth round but he had to survive a rocking shot from Ortega, as well as a desperation triangle. Sterling ended up sweeping the judges' scorecards.
Aljamain Sterling Wins Lackluster Decision Over Brian Ortega In UFC Shanghai Co-Main Event
This fight had been scheduled to be a featherweight bout but was changed following weight-cut complications for Ortega. It had initially been reported during UFC Shanghai early weigh-ins that "T-City" was transported to the hospital and the fight was off.
Sterling is now 2-1 at featherweight since moving up after the end of his bantamweight title run. He'd use his post-fight interview to call out current champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Ortega has now lost four of his last five, and his future is most likely at lightweight following a pair of fights that saw him have weight cut issues.