Sterling looked like his suffocating self against Calvin Kattar, blanketing the standup-inclined fighter on his way to a decision win. His second assignment came against the undefeated Movsar Evloev, and while the scrambles fascinated anyone with knowledge of that aspect of mixed martial arts, he wasn’t able to hand the Russian his first professional loss. Ortega isn’t particularly sure which Sterling he is going to get on August 23. His jiu jitsu pedigree suggests Sterling might have to stray from his wrestling-heavy attack, but either way, Ortega feels ready to deliver something worth watching for the fans.
“Besides the Khamzat fight, the grappling fights haven’t really been as exciting as they used to be,” Ortega said. “People don’t even really like to cater to that department anymore, so his skill is being a grappler, and a lot of people would say it’s boring, but I feel like I bring the other side of the entertainment where I can spark that s*** up.”
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Although Volkanovski regained his throne earlier this year, the featherweight picture is distinctly different than it was when Ortega last fought for gold. Instead of Hall of Fame-bound mainstays like Holloway, Edgar and Zombie, newer faces like Lerone Murphy, Jean Silva and Evloev are trying to carve out their own legacies.
Ortega is keen on not getting lost in the mix, and beating a former champion is always a great way to do just that. He might not get a title shot with a win over Sterling, but he’ll put himself in a familiar place and, for Ortega, that’s all he needs — a window of opportunity to make something special happen.
“We have a lot of new people, some are undefeated, some are on great winning streaks, some keep climbing up the ladder in impressive ways, some are hungry and keep fighting more than usual,” he said. “The cards are getting stacked in the featherweight division, and it’s going to be a good time for it.”
