Aljamain Sterling peppered Brian Ortega with strikes for much of this five-rounder tonight at UFC Fight Night 257 to earn a unanimous decision victory.

Round One

Sterling taking the center of the Octagon in the opening minute. Jab for Sterling. Nice counter for him after Ortega throws. Low kick for Sterling knocks Ortega off-balance for a moment.

Calf kick for Sterling. Now two quick punches for the former bantamweight champion.

Right hand scores for Sterling. Patient but calculated from Sterling as he lands a straight and then backs away to avoid Ortega’s attempt to return fire.

Inside leg kick for Sterling and then one to the outside. Solid jab for Sterling. Ortega not really getting going so far.

Another nice punch for Sterling. Ortega feels out with a high kick attempt. Low kick from Sterling.

Right and a left hand from Sterling while darting in and out to avoid Ortega’s attempts to land.

Round Two

Jabs for Sterling. Head kick attempt from Ortega. Low kick for Sterling. Body punch from Ortega.

Reaching right hook from Sterling. He tries for a spinning backfist that doesn’t pay off. Low kick from Ortega grazes the target.

Brief exchange of short punches in close. Sterling chips away at Ortega’s lead leg.

Check left hook from Sterling as he steers clear of Ortega’s punches. Punch from Sterling lands clean, but the ref thinks it might have been an eye-poke and forces a brief time-out. Replay shows it was a clean punch, and the fight is soon back underway again.

Ortega with a lot of time-wasting circling around the cage now and the crowd doesn’t like it as they boo their disapproval.

Round Three

Calf kick for Sterling, but Ortega does land a counter. Nice jab off the back foot from Sterling.

Jab for Sterling. Inside leg kick from Ortega. Body kick for Ortega might have strayed below the belt but Sterling says he’s ok.

Body punch for Sterling. Jabs for him. Step-in knee to the body from Ortega. Hard leg kick for Ortega. He lands it again.

Reach-in left hand from Sterling. Jab lands. Low kick from Sterling knocks Ortega off the mat for a moment.

Hard leg kick from Ortega. Now a low kick from Sterling. Right hand for him. Now a body kick.

Leg kick for Ortega. Sterling working behind the jab. He lands a leg kick. Missed knee strike from Sterling and Ortega almost caught his limb there.

Right hand for Sterling. Ortega fires back but eats a counter. Spinning back-elbow from Sterling lands as Ortega presses forward late in the round, but he takes it well.

Round Four

Jab from Ortega. Sterling lands his. Left hook for Sterling. Low calfs from Sterling. Back to the jab for Sterling. Left hook lands. Left hand and Ortega connects on the counter.

Body punch for Ortega. Jab again from Sterling. Nice right hand snaps Ortega’s head back for a moment.

Jab for Sterling. Ortega comes forward aggressively but doesn’t get anything going. Ortega feeling out with the jab, but Sterling comes around that with a right hand.

Leg kick for Sterling and then has to deploy some evasive movement as Ortega pressures into range firing strikes. They clinch up and Sterling manages to bring Ortega to the mat with a little over a minute left in the round.

Tight top pressure from Sterling as he looks to run down the clock from this advantageous position. Final 10 seconds and Sterling unleashes a brief barrage of ground-and-pound.

Round Five

Calf kick for Sterling. Right hand gets through for Ortega. Ortega applying pressure, but they end up in the clinch. Sterling with a quick flurry of punches. They go back to striking range.

Ortega attempts a takedown, but Sterling does well to deny that and end up on top with three-and-a-half minutes to go.

A couple of punches land for Sterling. Ortega able to scramble back to his feet.

Nice right hand gets through for Ortega. Now it’s Sterling who is having to circle to clear the cobwebs. Ortega marching forward. Ref warns Sterling to engage.

Sterling still circling. Right hand for Ortega. Sterling ducks a punch and then spins to Ortega’s back and drags him to his knees. Ortega tries to stand, but Sterling keeps him down and tries for a rear-naked choke. Ortega able to roll to his back.

A minute to go as Sterling stays tight in Ortega’s guard. Sterling postures up. Ortega landing hammer-fists. Body punches from Sterling. Ortega gets space and tries to stand, but Sterling punches him and gets on top again.

Sterling firing off some ground-and-pound from Ortega’s guard, and Ortega is trying to strike back.

Decision

Sterling looks assured on the feet with his stick-and-move strategy against a lethargic Ortega here, who never really did anything of note until the final round when his opponent started to show signs of fatigue. It was too little too late though, with Sterling able to fall back on his wrestling to ensure he emerges with a relatively one-sided unanimous decision victory (50-45 x3).