In a surprising turn of events, after initially reporting that Brian Ortega was OUT of Saturday’s bout against Aljamain Sterling, MMAMania’s Alex Behunin is now reporting that Ortega weighed in after all, and his bout with Aljamain Sterling is ON for Saturday.
Less than one hour after reporting that multiple sources told him Ortega was out, Behunin issued a correction:
“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 Now, they Brian and Aljo both weighed in and it’s apparently on. That’s MMA for you.”
https://x.com/AlexBehunin/status/1958722046109643000
While Ortega did make weight, he looked visibly drained while on the scale.
Despite the reports suggesting that the bout is off, it looks like the five-round co-main event will proceed as planned.
Thursday’s Initial Report on Brian Ortega
On Thursday evening, during the UFC’s early weigh-ins, rumors surfaced suggesting that Ortega had fallen while cutting weight. MMAMania’s Alex Behunin then reported that Ortega failed to even step on the scale, and in turn, his bout with Sterling has been scrapped.
Leading up to the bout, Ortega mentioned that prior to his fight against Diego Lopes last year, he planned to move up to 155 for a fight with an unnamed legend.
Instead, he decided to stick around and fight at 145.
Although Ortega didn’t wind up missing weight, given how he looked on the scale, he may wind up moving up to lightweight anyway.
On-Site Reporter Sheds Light on Brian Ortega’s Sudden Withdrawal
Following an initial report by Alex Behunin, @MMA_Scientist (Weibo), who is in attendance at the UFC Fight Night: Shanghai weigh-ins, shed further light on Ortega’s withdrawal.
According to a post on Weibo, Ortega fell while cutting weight and was subsequently taken to the hospital.
A translation of the post can be seen below.
@MMA_ScientistMMA reporter @MMA_Scientist on Weibo.
So far, Ortega, Sterling, and the UFC have yet to comment.
Brian Ortega Explains Decision to Stay at Featherweight
As previously mentioned, during his fight week media day appearance on Wednesday, Brian Ortega was asked why his upcoming fight with Aljamain Sterling is at 145 when he previously indicated that after the Diego Lopes fight, he wanted to move up to lightweight.
In response, Ortega explained that he had an offer to move up and fight a quote, “legend” at lightweight; however, his potential opponent turned the fight down.
After then agreeing to fight Diego Lopes, Ortega says that things opened up at 145 once Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria left the division:
“We took the flight with Diego Lopes. And then after that, things opened up in the featherweight division. Max left. Ilia left. Like, there’s just a lot of movement … you got these guys coming up, like Jean Silva, you got Lerone Murphy. There’s just a lot of movement, so that created more opportunities for me to fight.
“As long as there’s fights and I can kind of fight at least two times, three times a year, then that’ll be great.”
You can see the interaction at the 21:45 mark of the video below.
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