Aljamain Sterling has hit out at a “kind of stupid” rule in his UFC Shanghai fight with Brian Ortega this weekend.
On Saturday (23 August), Sterling will face Ortega in a five-round co-main event, as each man looks to push towards a featherweight title shot.
Ortega, 34, has already come up short twice with the 145lb crown on the line, while Sterling, 36, is a former bantamweight champion.
Their match-up could be a dynamic one, with each man a capable striker but with Sterling preferring to wrestle, while Ortega is a jiu-jitsu specialist.
Yet there is one aspect of the fight that Sterling is not looking forward to. The Jamaican-American told MMA Fighting on Wednesday (20 August): “I don’t know why it’s five rounds. I don’t know if Brian Ortega is the one who asked for five rounds, but like...
“Five-round main events, if you’re not the champion, you get an extra pay incentive. So I’m kind of annoyed, because we’re not getting extra pay for five rounds. I’m like: ‘Did he want to fight five rounds for no extra money?’
“I think it’s kind of f***ing stupid. Like, what are we getting out of this? We’re not getting a trophy at the end of this, so why are we fighting five rounds? This is 10 extra minutes of training, 10 extra minutes of fighting. I don’t know, I legitimately do not know.
“We’ve got the same manager, so... I don’t want five rounds, like, who wants to do five rounds? Who wants to fight more for the same pay rate that they’re going to get? It doesn’t make any sense.
“In the beginning of the contract, [it said five rounds], and I was just like: ‘For what?’ I thought, potentially, we might be moved to the main event – and then that hasn’t happened, so here we are. I’m like: ‘Whoa, hey, Mr Manager, can we get a little extra money for this?’ I’ve been asking for weeks.
“I mean, the fight’s gonna happen regardless, right? But it just would be nice to be compensated to do the extra. This is outside of the ordinary scope, so it’s like: ‘Whoa, no co-main event is five rounds unless they’re getting paid.’ So, I don’t know, it’s a little weird. I am a little annoyed by that.
“I know some people are going to take that headline and clip it: ‘Aljo was just frustrated with the UFC.’ It’s not even that. Make it makes sense. I train hard, you know? I’ve got a big wedding coming up. Hunter [Campbell, UFC CBO] knows about it, so dude, a little extra bonus would be nice. It would be nice for both of us, both of our families.”
Sterling has gone 1-1 since moving up to featherweight in April 2024. In his divisional debut, “Funkmaster” outpointed Calvin Kattar, while his sophomore outing at 145lb was a narrow decision defeat by Movsar Evloev in December.
Previously, Sterling recorded three successful defences of the bantamweight belt after winning it from Petr Yan via disqualification in 2021. He the lost the title to Sean O’Malley via knockout in 2023.
Ortega enters UFC Shanghai on the back of decision loss to Diego Lopes last September, which followed a submission win over Yair Rodriguez in February 2024.
The American has challenged for the featherweight title twice, losing to Max Holloway in 2018 and Alexander Volkanovski in 2021 – on points, both times.
