Aljamain Sterling criticizes one aspect of UFC Shanghai booking against Brian Ortega

Aljamain Sterling isn’t gung-ho about his fight with Brian Ortega being scheduled for five rounds.

Sterling and Ortega are set to collide on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Shanghai. Despite not being the headliner, “Funkmaster” vs. “T-City” will be contested for five rounds if necessary. This doesn’t sit well with the former UFC Bantamweight Champion.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com ahead of the event, Sterling explained that there isn’t any extra incentive to be a part of a five-round, non-title fight.

“Yeah, I don’t know why it’s five rounds,” Sterling told MMA Fighting. “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*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 don’t know. I legitimately do not know. We’ve got the same manager, so. I don’t want 5 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.”

Sterling will attempt to rebound after dropping a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev in late 2024. He’s hoping to find himself in the UFC featherweight title picture. This will be “Funkmaster’s” first trip to Shanghai for a prizefight. BJPenn.com will keep you updated throughout the UFC Shanghai card. We’ll be bringing you video highlights as well as all of the important post-fight tidbits once the event has wrapped up.