UFC 288 Preview
The UFC will be invading the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday May 6th for UFC 288. The main event will be for the bantamweight title between champion Aljamain Sterling and former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.
Cejudo is coming out of retirement at 36 years old to reclaim the title that he relinquished when retiring, but never lost to any bantamweight contender. The former bantamweight champion was also the former flyweight champion and is one of only four fighters in UFC history to hold two belts at one time.
Despite not having fought since 2020, Cejudo is confident heading into the clash with Sterling on Saturday. When asked about the level of difficulty he will face coming back to fight the champion, Cejudo was confident. “It’s easy money. I watched these guys after coaching some of the best in the world – Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Zhang Weili, Deiveson Figueiredo, Jiri Prochazka – and I started to understand my talent a little bit better,” said Cejudo.
“I know there is a window, I know there is a gap where I really do have to say goodbye. I’m 36 years old, I’m 36 years young, and I feel good. I feel really good.”
Cejudo continued, “Yeah, I’ve been retired for three years. But really, I’ve been retired for two because this whole last year I’ve been training,” Cejudo explained. “This whole last year I’ve been studying. Those last two years I’ve been training (with) the best in the world, and it’s just the accumulation of knowledge. … I may grow a gut, I may like fried chicken like Daniel Cormier, but I can compete with anybody, and I believe I’m the greatest competitor of all time.”
The man they call “Triple C” confidently concluded, “Not only am I looking to beat Aljamain Sterling, but I’m looking to dominate him,” Cejudo said. “He ain’t going past three rounds.”
Cejudo has key wins in his career over Dominck Cruz, Marlon Moraes, TJ Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis, Wilson Reis and Jussier Formiga. He is already considered one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all-time, but coming back to become a two-time champion at the age of 36 will solidify his reputation as one of the best fighters in the history of the sport.
Sterling is coming off a second straight title defense with the last being a second round TKO over former champion TJ Dillashaw at UFC 280 in October. The win was the champions eighth consecutive and was the kind of victory he needed to prove he deserves to be considered bantamweight elite.
Despite his success, Sterling still enters the fight against Cejudo as the underdog. But the champion has not wasted time thinking about the odds or why he is disrespected by his critics. "Honestly, I really don't know," Sterling said. "I couldn't give you an honest answer. I think the excuses only started after the first Yan fight. That was also my first title fight. That showing, if I'm being honest, wasn't an accurate depiction of everything I'd done leading up to that title shot. If you've never seen Aljamain Sterling fight, and that was your first time watching because you're a casual, which is OK... I get why those casual fans are like that because it's the first and only ever appearance you've seen of me. They think Yan must be this monster if the hype said, 'Sterling is this, this, and this, and this guy kind of just did whatever he wanted, then rematch! No way he loses to this guy'. You got to the rematch, and it's close, but not really. It's really not close,” said Sterling.
"You almost have to figure a way to cope with your warped perception of reality because you're not a die-hard fan. You don't understand what I've done or have watched my previous fights to understand my entire game. Maybe I'm just too analytical with it. It just makes it easier to make things sit. I'm going to give you the option to go back and watch my previous fights leading up to it (the first Yan fight) and see how I even got there. I guarantee you that tune will change.”
The New York native will be fighting in his own backyard in Newark and will have the added advantage of fighting at home, or will it be a distraction? Sterling is ready to represent his town with pride.
Three champions from Long Island and we never had an opportunity to have a homecoming like this,” says Sterling. “I know Weidman fought predominantly in Las Vegas as the champion, and Matt Serra, I think he had the rematch with GSP in Montreal. Al (Iaquinta) fought on 24-hours’ notice against Khabib at the Barclays Center, but we never had anyone with the belt, defending it on their home turf.”
The champion continued, “I do know what this means and I do know what the crowd is going to look like, sound like,” he adds with a smile, seated in the basement of his home, a little more than a week out from returning to action. “It’s not every day you get to defend a world title pretty much on your home turf, have the home crowd advantage.”
“I’m just hoping Long Island shows out, New York shows out, the Tri-State area shows out and boos the crap out of this man when he walks into the arena.”
Sterling concluded, “This is it — this is what dreams are made of,” he adds. “It’s not every day you have this opportunity and that gives me perspective, gives me a reality check of what it all means to me. It’s another fight, but it’s going to be a special one; something I’m definitely not going to forget for years to come.”
A win over Cejudo would mean quite a few things for Sterling. First, he would break the record for bantamweight wins in the UFC with 14. Secondly, he would be the first bantamweight champion in history to defend the belt three times. This would solidify Sterling’s place as one of the best bantamweights in history and could silence many of the pundits.
Aside from Dillashaw, Sterling has key victories in his career over Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, Pedro Munoz, Jimmie Rivera and Renan Barao. Cejudo represents the type of fighter that has entered the octagon many times against Sterling but has come up short. He is a forward-moving wrestler who relies on heavy pressure, but Sterling seems to be built for that kind of fight. The winner of this fight could come down to who can control the later rounds.
The co-main event of the evening will have major title implications in the welterweight division. #4 Belal Muhammad will take on former title challenger #5 Gilbert Burns. UFC President Dana White stated during the UFC press conference on Thursday that the winner will be the best to challenge the winner of welterweight champion Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.
Muhammad has not lost a fight since 2019 and the only non win was a no contest against the champion Leon Edwards in 2021. He most recently defeated Sean Brady by second round TKO at UFC 280 in October.
The 34-year-old has key victories in his career over Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia. A win over Burns means the biggest of Muhammad’s career and a chance at the welterweight title.
Burns has won two straight fights since losing one of the best fights of 2022 to Khamzat Chimaev. He jumped into this fight with Muhammad on short notice after defeating Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 just over a month ago.
The 36-year-old challenged for the title in 2021, but with a win on Saturday over a surging contender he has the opportunity to be a two-time title challenger. Aside from Masvidal, Burns has key victories over Neil Magny, Stephen Thompson, Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson.
The rest of the main card:
Strawweight - #4 Jessica Andrade vs. #6 Yan Xiaonan
Featherweight - #10 Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
Featherweight - Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
ESPN + Prelims:
Lightweight - #14 Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
Light Heavyweight - Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark
Welterweight - Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
Strawweight - #5 Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims:
Heavyweight - Braxton Smith vs. Parker Porter
Middleweight - Phil Hawes vs. Ikram Aliskerov
Middleweight - Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro
