NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – MAY 6: (RL) Aljamain Sterling takes on Henry Cejudo in the UFC Bantamweight Championship bout during the UFC 288 event at the Prudential Center on May 6, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Aljamain Sterling retained his bantamweight title at UFC 288 on Saturday with a split decision over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo, who returned to the Octagon after a three-year hiatus. The fight was closely matched, but Sterling once again proved he was a true champion as he set the UFC record for most title defenses at bantamweight with his third.
In the co-main event, Belal Muhammad capitalized on a brilliant performance in just 16 days to dominate former title challenger Gilbert Burns. Muhammad made his case for a welterweight title fight with his ninth win in 10 fights without a decision against current champion Leon Edwards.
Xiaonan Yan became the first non-champion to knock out Jessica Andrade after a right-hand counter dropped the former champion, allowing Yan to hammerfist her down in the first round.
In the second fight of the main card, Diego Lopes made the most of his last-minute UFC debut against undefeated Movsar Evloev, but it just wasn’t enough. Lopes had several submission attempts, including a dangerous leg closure at the end of the third. He lost the fight but he gained some fans. Evloev won via unanimous decision to remain undefeated. He now has 17 straight wins.
All three judges scored the pay-per-view opener between Charles Jourdain and Kron Gracie at 30-27 in favor of Jourdain, who used his superior punch to pick Gracie apart. Gracie had spent four years on the sidelines and it showed in his return to the Octagon. Jordain returns to the winning column after losing his two previous bouts and now stands at 14-6 in his MMA career while Gracie falls to 5-2 after back-to-back losses.
How UFC 288 went down
UFC288 Main Map Results
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Bantamweight: Aljamain Sterling def. Henry Cejudo by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
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Welterweight: Belal Muhammad def. Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
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Strawweight women: Xiaonan Yan def. Jessica Andrade by TKO (punches) at 2:20 from R1
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Featherweight: Movsar Evloev def. Diego Lopes by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
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Featherweight: Charles Jourdain def. Kron Gracie by unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
UFC 288 Prelims Full Results
MATT FREVOLA JUST STEAMROLLED BY DREW DOBER #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/5C5G9OAcZa
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) May 7, 2023
NZECHUKWU SLEEP HIM 😴 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/8WG6trHATJ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 7, 2023
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Welterweight: Khaos Williams def. Rolando Bedoya by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
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Strawweight women: Virna Jandiroba def. Marina Rodriguez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
UFC 288 Early Prelims full results
Full throttle, no brakes for Parker Porter ⛽️ #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/1fslLswr6Q
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 6, 2023
This knockout is evil 🤯 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/gfyf4fNyfS
— UFC (@ufc) May 6, 2023
RIBEIRO STARTS #UFC288 WITH A BANG 💥 pic.twitter.com/Ptw0YoeaK5
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 6, 2023
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