UFC forced into dramatic change as 'horrible' footage emerges before Shanghai event

The UFC has been forced to make a sudden late change to their upcoming fight card in Shanghai as fans point out a worrying detail in recent footage.

Just one week after popular fighter Khamzat Chimaev realised his potential and became the undisputed middleweight champion with a win over Dricus du Plessis, the UFC is hosting a huge event in Shanghai, China.

Although there are no belts on the line on Saturday morning, several former title holders and contenders are facing off in highly competitive fights inside the Shanghai Indoor Stadium.

Light heavyweight fighter Johnny Walker will face exciting Chinese prospect Zhang Mingyang in the main event of the evening, with unbeaten British fighter Lone'er Kavanagh on the undercard.

But less than 24 hours before the card gets underway, the UFC have been forced to make a major change to the co-main event after fans expressed concern for one of the fighters after seeing videos of him online.

Johnny Walker will face exciting Chinese prospect Zhang Mingyang in the main event. (Image: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty)

Before Walker and Mingyang step into the octagon on Saturday, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will face two-time featherweight title contender Brian Ortega.

The pair were set to fight at the featherweight non-title limit of 146 pounds as Sterling looks to take one step closer to a potential title shot in the division, but an official UFC statement confirmed that this is no longer the case.

Shortly before the two fighter stepped onto the scales ahead of the fight, the announcement was made that they would instead bvy fighting at a catchweight limit of 153 pounds, which both men later weighed in at.

Although no official reason was given for the sudden change, concerns had previously been raised that Ortega was struggling with his cut down to featherweight, perhaps explaining the decision.

And once UFC fans saw footage of the American during and after the weigh-in, they are convinced that this is exactly why, as many of them expressed concerns with his appearance.

Reacting to footage of Ortega at the weigh-ins, one fan wrote: "Nah this is crazy. Ortega can barely walk."

While another commented: "This is seriously concerning, Ortega looks horrible. Shouldn't be fighting at featherweight anymore."

UFC fans are concerned after seeing Brian Ortega weigh in. (Image: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty)

And another asked: "What are we doing? Ortega looks like he’s a sneeze away from being in the hospital for dehydration."

Sterling and Ortega will compete in the five round co-main event fn the UFC Shanghai event, with the main card set to begin at 11am on Saturday morning.