Aljamain Sterling pans ‘stupid’ decision to make Brian Ortega fight five rounds at UFC Shanghai ‘for the same pay rate’

Even though “Funk Master” did not draw headlining duties, the promotion booked his “T-City” fight for five, five-minute rounds. The former UFC bantamweight champion is no stranger to what is commonly known as the “championship rounds,” but doesn’t understand why he’s not getting paid for it.

“I don’t know why it’s five rounds,” Sterling told MMA Fighting. “I think it’s kind of f*cking 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 legitimately do not know. I don’t want 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.”

“This is a huge fight, man,” Sterling continued. “I think this is a crossroads fight for both of us, just at our age, what we both accomplished and where we’ve both been in our divisions. I don’t want to say this is a make it or break it fight for me, but I’m not interested in fighting up and coming contenders just for a paycheck. Maybe I will consider that at some point, but I don’t have that mentality right now. That doesn’t get me up in the morning and make me want to go train to fight these young 22-year-olds, 23-year-olds who don’t have a name. They’re trying to make the name off of me, they’re trying to make their name off of Ortega.”

That slot has instead gone to light heavyweight hurters Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang, who look to blast their way into the division Top 10 with a strong performance this weekend in China. That contest is also scheduled for five rounds but may not get out of the first, considering they combine for 29 knockout wins in their professional MMA careers.

For the rest of the UFC Shanghai fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.