Is UFC Shanghai’s Brian Ortega vs Aljamain Sterling Canceled? False Reports Debunked

Dana White and Co. are returning to mainland China for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, and he arranged a pretty good card for UFC Shanghai. With Johnny Walker and Chinese native Zhang Mingyang in the main event, the CEO and the matchmaking team also gave us a pretty good co-main event between Aljamain Sterling and Brian Ortega. However, reports surfaced recently that the fight is in jeopardy.

Yes, there are reports popping up that there has been some issue with the fight between Aljamain Sterling and Brian Ortega. But the question is, are these reports true? Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to find out as we take a look at the first piece of this whole debacle, which was a reported issue with Ortega’s weight cut, but part of it was false. Here’s what we know.

Brian Ortega’s weight cut issues led to false reports

During this fight week, the former featherweight title contender Brian Ortega suffered some complications while cutting weight ahead of his fight this Saturday. In fact, ‘T-City’ reportedly fainted in the process and had to be taken to the hospital, as the report claimed that the fight is off. But then again, according to MMA Mania‘s Alex Behunin, who shared the initial report, the fight was back on as both fighters stepped on the scale during the weigh-ins.

“What a twist of events… Got told by multiple sources that Brian Oretga fainted, went to the hospital, which forced the fight to be off,” the journalist tweeted. “Now, they, Brian and Aljo, both weighed in, and it’s apparently on. That’s MMA for you.”

It appears that the initial report was picked up by others on the internet and misinterpreted the weight-cut situation, prompting them to claim that the co-main event at UFC Shanghai was compromised. But for those who are still not sure what to make of the featherweight fight, Aljamain Sterling has opened up about it on social media.

Aljamain Sterling confirms fight status

Aljamain Sterling’s UFC run has taken a zig-zag route since he dropped the belt. He’s 1-2 since dropping the belt, as his most recent fight ended in defeat. UFC Shanghai is going to be his first fight in 2025, and he wasn’t going to let this fight go to waste. After months and months of preparation, ‘FunkMaster’ seems like he was all eyes and ears when these rumors about his fight against Brian Ortega getting canceled.

After coming across all the chitchat online, the former bantamweight champion decided to give his own verdict on the fight, since it’s his business. Without making much of a fuss, Aljamain Sterling kept it short and sweet. ‘FunkMaster’ simply said, “The show goes on.” However, it seems like there has been a little change in the fight. The fight is not going to take place in the featherweight limit because both fighters reportedly weighed in at 153 lbs.

As such, the Aljamain Sterling vs Brian Ortega fight is now set at catchweight, which isn’t something that Dana White is a fan of. Nonetheless, the Shanghai fans are getting what was originally planned, but how that affects both fighters moving forward, we’ll have to wait and see about that. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.