Aljamain Sterling successfully defended his title against Henry Cejudo in the main event of UFC 288. Cejudo, who ended a three-year retirement to face Sterling, fought gallantly, but Sterling was too much for him to handle after the extended layoff.
Cejudo started off strong in the first round. Though neither man made much headway, Sterling was able to get in a rhythm and scored a takedown late in the round, commanding control until the end of the first.
In the second, Sterling had trouble fighting Cejudo off him. The two traded shots, but Cejudo kept Sterling on the defensive. The third round was another tough round to score as both men fought on even terms, but as the fight went into the championship rounds, it would turn against the challenger’s favor.
Sterling’s jab was starting to make its mark on a tiring Cejudo. As Sterling began to outwork Cejudo in stretches, a strong final round from the challenger had the fight a virtual toss-up as it went to the scorecards.
Ultimately, Sterling was declared the winner by a split decision with scores of 48-47, 47-48, and 48-47.
With the win Sterling retains his bantamweight title and now must face Sean O’Malley, who confronted the champion in the octagon, later this year. His record is now 23-3.
Cejudo drops to 16-3 with the loss.
Belal Muhammad Dominates Gilbert Burns
The makeshift co-main event between Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns was expected to be a competitive welterweight fight with potential title implications. Instead, it was a one-way thrashing as Muhammad destroyed Burns, earning the biggest win of his career in the process.
Much like Burns’ own dominant win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287, Muhammad beat Burns every which way in their five-round clash. Muhammad outlanded Burns 132-81 in significant strikes and shut down his vaunted takedown game.
Muhamamd was declared the winner by unanimous decision by scores of 50-45, and 49-46 twice.
UFC 288 full card results
Aljamain Sterling def. Henry Cejudo by split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Belal Muhammad def. Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Xiaonan Yan def. Jessica Andrade by TKO (punches) at 2:20 of Round 1
Movsar Evloev def. Diego Lopes by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Charles Jourdain def. Kron Gracie by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Matt Frevola def. Drew Dober by TKO (ground and pound) at 4:08 of Round 1
Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Devin Clark by submission (standing guillotine) at 2:28 of Round 2
Khaos Williams def. Rolando Bedoya by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Virna Jandiroba def. Marina Rodriguez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Parker Porter def. Braxton Smith by TKO at 2:10 of Round 1
Ikram Aliskerov def. Phil Hawes via KO (punches) at 2:10 of Round 1
Middleweight: Claudio Ribeiro def. Joseph Holmes via TKO (ground and pound) at 3:21 of Round 2
