What’s next for Brian Ortega after UFC Shanghai?

This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Shanghai, we saw a five-round catchweight matchup between two top featherweight contenders. Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (25-5) took on Brian Ortega (16-5).

This fight was supposed to be a featherweight matchup but due to weight issues with Ortega, the fight was moved to a catchweight fight. Brian Ortega has said in the past that he wanted to move up to lightweight due to the issues of making featherweight.

He finished Yair Rodriguez in February 2024 and that led to him taking a title eliminator with Diego Lopes at Noche UFC last year at featherweight. He did make weight for that fight, but he lost. I thought after that fight that he would move up. Instead, he took this fight with Sterling and had a ton of issues with the weight cut.

Those issues led to him looking awful weighing in at the catchweight of 153 pounds. The way he looked on the scale translated to his performance where he looked completely flat and not involved in the fight at all. After five rounds, it was a very lopsided sweeping decision for Aljamain Sterling.

What’s next after UFC Shanghai?

Brian Ortega’s days at 145 pounds are over. There is no reason to book him for another featherweight fight unless he is actively saying that he is committed to fighting and fighting at featherweight. It’s time for him to move up to lightweight.

There are some compelling matchups for the UFC to make with Ortega at 155 pounds. I think you could give him a fight against someone like a Renato Moicano who is currently ranked 11th in the division. A guy like Grant Dawson could also make a lot of sense for a lightweight debut.

That said, I think Brian Ortega really needs to think about whether or not he wants to fight moving forward. He just looked out of it at UFC Shanghai and he looked checked out. Fighting is an all in or all out game and Brian Ortega has been through a lot. From brutal beatings to bad injuries, he’s racked up a lot of miles.

If he’s motivated to keep fighting, I think he should take the time to add a little muscle and move up. No matter what, I think he needs to permanently close the featherweight chapter of his career.