Top Reasons to Wake Up for UFC Shanghai

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Inconsistent results have left Brian Ortega in a state of limbo within the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division, stuck somewhere between contender and gatekeeper.

The 34-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt will step in the Octagon for the first time in nearly a year when he toes the line against Aljamain Sterling in the UFC Fight Night 257 co-headliner this Saturday at Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China. Ortega, who has already fought for the UFC featherweight championship on two occasions, enters his latest assignment with losses in four of his past six bouts. The 34-year-old Californian last suited up at UFC 306, where Diego Lopes outstruck him to a clear-cut unanimous decision on Sept. 14. Ortega has secured eight of his 16 professional victories by submission. On the other side of the ledger, Sterling has not yet established a firm foundation in his move to 145 pounds. The former bantamweight champion last saw action on Dec. 7, when he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous verdict against the unbeaten Movsar Evloev at UFC 310. Spawned by the Serra-Longo Fight Team in his native New York, Sterling, 36, has never been submitted in his 29-fight career.

In addition to the compelling confrontation between Ortega and Sterling, here are two other reasons to wake up for UFC Fight Night 257:

Heavy Lifting

Sergei Pavlovich sometimes seems destined to remain on the periphery of title contention in the heavyweight division. He has rattled off seven wins in 10 outings since joining the UFC roster in 2018, but ill-timed losses to Alistair Overeem, Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov have taken a bite out of his momentum. Pavolovich, 33, has himself pointed in the right direction again after he took a three-round unanimous decision from Jairzinho Rosenstruik at UFC Fight Night 250 in February. Whether or not he can continue his ascent remains to be seen. In his latest test, the physically imposing Russian locks horns with the once-beaten Waldo Cortes-Acosta in a pivotal heavyweight showcase. Cortes-Acosta burst on the scene via Dana White’s Contender Series a little more than three years ago and finds himself in prime position to make some noise in a historically volatile division. The 33-year-old Dominican has pieced together a five-fight winning streak, highlighted by finishes of Lukasz Brzeski and Ryan Spann. Pavlovich represents a significant step up in competition.

A Potential Barometer

Healthy skepticism still surrounds Lone’er Kavanagh, one of the more promising prospects currently under UFC contract. The undefeated Great Britain Top Team flyweight puts his perfect 9-0 record on the line against onetime Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder Charles Johnson as part of the undercard. Kavanagh, 26, last competed at UFC Fight Night 255, where he recorded four takedowns, piled up six-plus minutes of control time and laid claim to a unanimous decision over Felipe dos Santos on March 22. Johnson, meanwhile, has experienced something of a Jekyll-and-Hyde tenure in the UFC. The 34-year-old Murcielago MMA mainstay last strapped on the gloves on March 1, when a unanimous decision defeat to Ramazonbek Temirov closed the book on a four-fight winning streak that included a knockout of Joshua Van in 2024. Johnson has never been finished in 24 appearances as a pro.