UFC 288: Aljamain Sterling retains his bantamweight title against Henry Cejudo

Aljamain Sterling beat Henry Cejudo by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) from the judges on Saturday night at the Prudential Center, in the final of UFC 288. Sterling thus defends his bantamweight title. Third time to remain class champion.

“I knew it was going to be a close battle and I wasn’t sure who the decision would be. I was hoping to do better. Cejudo is a great opponent, he is a legend and there is no easy test,” Sterling said.

Missing his return to the octagon after a three-year absence, Cejudo announced his retirement after defending his bantamweight title against Dominic Cruz in May 2020.

Cejudo took a while to go, but he still pulled off some great attacks and seemed to find his bearings as the fight progressed.

“It was close, but Algemeen did his job and won. It’s no fun to lose, but I haven’t fought in three years. I’m a little confused, should I continue? If I’m not first, I’m last,” admitted Cejudo, who doubted the rest of his career.

The two men traded a few blows during the first round. Finishing the attack was up to Sterling, who controlled the fight to his heart’s content by bringing his opponent to the ground. Sterling also landed several good knees on Cejudo.

Sterling continued his work into the next round with excellent punches in the opening moments, which Cejudo attempted to counter with kicks. After some good tries, Cejudo finally found some openings to touch Sterling harder in the second half of the second round.

Then after a relatively well combined third round, Cejudo made a takedown on the offensive end hoping to steal the round and stay in the fight.

In the fourth round, Sterling led some good attacks. After rising from an unfortunate position on the ground, Sterling produced some good shots in the closing seconds of the clash.

Perhaps looking for a knockdown, Cejudo got a big chance and tried to hit Sterling hard in the middle of the last round, but he was unable to complete the job. In addition to putting in the best attacks, Cejudo managed late finishes to add to his performance, but he was just short of a win.

It looks like the future is already building up for a title fight between Sterling and Sean O’Malley and the pair exchanged some subtleties in the octagon after the fight as O’Malley joined forces with Sterling.

“You better be better than that,” O’Malley arrogantly repeated over and over as he reached the octagon.

“I’ll take care of you in the octagon. Now get out of the cage. Get him out of here!” replied Sterling, moments before the two men needed to be separated due to Shawn sugar Still hasn’t left the octagon.

Sterling added just before leaving the octagon that he now expects O’Malley to put up a fight in September.

Muhammad is approaching the goal

In the co-main event, Bilal Muhammad defeated Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision of the judges (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) and is one step closer to the championship fight for the heavyweight title. Welterweight.

This was an elimination match pitting Muhammad, the fourth competitor, to Burns, the fifth competitor. So Mohammed should get his chance against Leon Edwards.

Muhammad thus extended his unbeaten streak to 10. He remarkably won his last five fights, while inflicting Burns’ third defeat in his last six fights.

Both men accepted the fight very late to help the UFC deliver a better card, Muhammad had just finished Ramadan, while Burns fought a month earlier, at UFC 287. For Muhammad, the situation could not affect his performance.

“You give me 8 weeks? I’ll beat Jon Jones. You give me three weeks?” Mohammed said after his victory.

Earlier in the evening, Quebec’s Charles Jordan (14-6-1) added Crohn’s Gracie (5-2) to his roster thanks to a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

UFC 288 concert card

fighters	category	a result
Aljamin Sterling against. Henry Cejudo	Bantam weight	Sterling via split decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48)
Bilal Mohammed against. Gilbert Burns	flabby weight	Muhammad by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Jessica Andrade J. Yan Xiaonan	straw weight	Xiaonan by K. -O. In the first round.
Movsar Ivlov against. Diego lopez	featherweight	Evloev by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 and 30-27)
Crohn Gracie vs. Charles Jordan	featherweight	Jordan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Drew Dawber vs. Matt Frivola	Light weights	Frivola by K.-O. technique in the first round
Kennedy Nzechukwu against. Devin Clark	Light heavyweight	Nzechukwu advanced to the second round
Jose Williams against. Rolando Bedoya	flabby weight	Williams via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Marina Rodriguez vs. Verna Jandiruba	straw weight	Jandiruba by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Braxton Smith vs. Parker Porter	heavy weight	Porter by K.-O. technique in the first round
Phil Hawes vs. Honorable Aliskirov	Medium weights	Aliscroft by K. -O. In the second round
Joseph Holmes c. Claudio Ribeiro	Medium weights	Ribeiro by K.-O. technique in the second round