Combat By Combat Preview | UFC Shanghai

Sterling turned 36 on the finish of July and comes into his third featherweight look trying to additional set up the place he matches within the division. He dominated Calvin Kattar on the bottom in his first outing at 145 kilos final yr at UFC 300, however landed on the incorrect facet of the scorecards in opposition to prime contender Movsar Evloev in December, leaving him stationed within the Prime 10, however a pair spots again of the Prime 5.

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Featherweight is in an attention-grabbing place proper now, with a handful of ascending names all making a push in direction of the highest of the division, difficult a few of these extra senior rivals for his or her place in line. Whereas the winner of this one will solidify their standing as a severe risk and veteran presence, the vanquished competitor will likely be dealing with an important project each time they return.

Sergei Pavlovich vs Waldo Cortes Acosta

Sergei Pavlovich and Waldo Cortes Acosta sq. off in a captivating matchup between Prime 10 heavyweights with eyes on difficult for gold within the not too distant future.

Pavlovich rattled off six straight first-round stoppage wins to land reverse Tom Aspinall in a battle for the interim title at UFC 295, then misplaced his follow-up bout to fellow Russian Alexander Volkov seven months later to fall to 18-3 general. He rebounded with a workmanlike win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in February, and at the moment resides at No. 3 within the rankings, behind Volkov and impending title challenger Ciryl Gane.

Among the finest success tales from the final couple graduating courses from Dana White’s Contender Sequence, Cortes Acosta arrives in Shanghai on a five-fight successful streak, trying to pressure his approach into the Prime 5. The Dominican “Salsa Boy” adopted up his March knockout of Ryan Spann with a unanimous resolution win over Serghei Spivac at UFC 316, advancing to 14-1 general within the course of.