Aljamain Sterling vs Brian Ortega is the fight to make

[HatKick]

Aljo would do terrible, terrible things to Yair on the mat.

Yeah like... hold on to him

 

[Safton]

Yeah like... hold on to him

No, he'd probably choke him or pound him out inside the distance. People are so used to Aljo focusing on position-over-attack in high-stakes fights (titles and title eliminators) that they forget how dangerous of a grappler he can be when he chooses to go for it. We've seen glimpses of that aggression recently -- for good or bad -- in Rd 3 against Kattar and also against Evloev recently with the slams and that ill-fated back-take. But dudes like Evloev or Yan are elite fighters and solid grapplers in their own right, whereas Yair has some of the worst defensive skills on the mat of any Top 5 fighter in any division.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

It would be an interesting fight.

Brain Ortega has very high Fight IQ

Hmmm..... Historically Ortega is a come from behind type of guy. Losing fights until he can capitalize on a mistake his opponent makes to grab a sub.
I can't call that high fight IQ when your plan revolves around waiting for your opponent to make a mistake.

 

[Elegant]

Lol Aljo is so overrated here

He loses to Ortega, Yair, and Lopes

In fact I think he turns into a highlight reel for all three

 

[svmr_db]

Lol Aljo is so overrated here

He loses to Ortega, Yair, and Lopes

In fact I think he turns into a highlight reel for all three

Yair's grappling is shit so I could see Sterling manhandling him. Regardless yeah he doesn't deserve to fight any of them.

 

[Safton]

Lol Aljo is so overrated here

He loses to Ortega, Yair, and Lopes

In fact I think he turns into a highlight reel for all three

I think Lopes is a decent favorite against him. Ortega is close to 50/50, but I believe Aljo has some upside against him considering Brian's level of wear-and-tear and general lack of defensive awareness. It would be an interesting match-up.

I have no idea how you confidently pick Yair by anything other than striker's chance to score a Moraes-style KO on him. Yair is honestly one of the most shockingly bad defensive grapplers to make it to the Top 5 of a division that is otherwise fairly talent-rich... and that's a bad gap to have in one's game against Aljo.

 

[Khaosan]

I like that fight, but I thought Ortega was moving up to LW?

 

[Kono dio da!]

It makes too much sense for the UFC to make it. I had a thread about this.

 

[13Seconds]

Problem for Ortega is that he gets beaten at FW too. Dude was an overachiever.

Let Aljo grapplefuck and sub Yarir into a 2 years hiatus.

Why the fuck is Yair so inactive

 

[Pierce 34]

None of them stop a Aljos takedown

 

[svmr_db]

It makes too much sense for the UFC to make it. I had a thread about this.

"It makes too much sense" for Sterling to fight up the ranks off a loss? Huh?

 

[MisfitsBR]

I just don't want him against a striker with no TDD, I'm traumatized with the Calvin's fight

 

[BangBang]

Ort GA is a bit pedestrian in comparison to Aljo..unlike the match up though.

 

[Brampton_Boy]

Hmmm..... Historically Ortega is a come from behind type of guy. Losing fights until he can capitalize on a mistake his opponent makes to grab a sub.
I can't call that high fight IQ when your plan revolves around waiting for your opponent to make a mistake.

Lol, I was making a joke. The OP originally titled the thread "Brain" Ortega (which he now fixed).

 

[markys00]

"It makes too much sense" for Sterling to fight up the ranks off a loss? Huh?

View attachment 1076321

They're both coming off losses. Someone has to give up their rank in any given fight.