With a returning Henry ‘Triple C‘ Cejudo, his attempt in reclaiming the bantamweight gold only drew all the eyeballs on the main event of UFC 288. His opponent, Aljamain Sterling first earned the UFC gold in an uneventful manner against Petr Yan at UFC 259. However, ‘Funkmaster‘ turned things around in an impressive performance during their UFC 273 rematch.
TIME FOR OUR TITLE FIGHT 🏆@FunkMasterMMA and @HenryCejudo are making the walk NOW at #UFC288
[ Order the @ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/ZDDxUDJwAA ] pic.twitter.com/8Emjc2smxQ
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Soon after, he defended his title for the 2nd time against T.J. Dillashaw, someone who Cejudo had beaten with ease in 2019. Fans considered UFC 288 as the night to arguably decide who is the GOAT in the bantamweight division. Both fighters walked out to the arena appearing pretty calm and collected, considering the stakes on the line. Fans in the Prudential Center cheered on Sterling as he walked out to shut his doubters again.
Aljamain Sterling defeated Henry Cejudo via split decision
The first round began with the reigning champion pressing on a returning Henry Cejudo. Soon after, Sterling seemed to take the center as he kept giving no room to the former two-division champion for any opening. The New York native landed the first significant strikes of the bout. However, Henry with his wrestling prowess, landed an early takedown. A minute later, the duo got back up and started swinging heavy shots at each other.
The end of the first round witnessed Aljamain with his own takedown, followed by keeping Henry against the fence for a good chunk, before getting his back at the end.
Big close to the first round for @FunkMasterMMA 👊 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/1TxHvVgLKm
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
The two men entered the second round, with Sterling landing more shots throughout the course of it. Henry visibly had reach problems during the first and the second round as he could not find an angle to land a good strike on the champ. Sterling kept moving forward against a very formidable opponent in Cejudo. With a better gas tank, Aljo landed the cleaner shots while even handing Henry a swelling under his right eye.
The 3rd round saw ‘Triple C’ get to a better rhythm as he attacked Aljo with several low kicks. The kicks seemed to be damaging but that didn’t stop Aljo from moving forward and making failed takedown attempts. With nothing significant from either fighter this round, Henry landed a successful takedown with 13 seconds left on the clock.
This defence from Cejudo is wild 😨 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/PPgxwUmeqj
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
The start of the fourth round saw what appeared to be a sort of tired Aljo. As commentator Jon Anik mentioned during the round, Cejudo had landed 19 kicks, while Sterling had the higher number with 23 of his own. Both athletes connected with good shots, however, nothing damaging or heavy-hitting. Sterling seemed to steal this round though when he landed a successful takedown with about 15 seconds left on the clock.
The final round saw a comparatively less energetic Henry and Sterling. Despite the momentum being slow from Cejudo’s side, he didn’t appear any less confident as he kept going toe-to-toe with the champ. While again finding success with his low kicks, Cejudo landed a huge overhand right on Aljamain.
The former Olympic gold medalist landed another successful takedown with 40 seconds remaining to put the fight behind them. The round ended with both fighters in a clinch, with Aljo having his back against the fence.
Did ‘Triple C’ get robbed against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288?
As per UFC stats, The champion landed 111 significant strikes out of his attempt of 170. Cejudo had double-digit significant strikes as he landed 72 out of his 133 attempts. In terms of takedowns, Sterling landed 4 out of his attempted 14, while the former two-division champion had half the success as he landed 2 out of his 6 attempts. Neither athlete had any submission attempts during the 5 round main event.
In terms of the judge’s scorecards, Michael Bell, Derek Cleary, and Eric Colon gave the first and fourth rounds to Sterling. Eric Colon and Michael Bell gave scored the third and fifth rounds for the former Olympic gold medalist.
#UFC288 Official Scorecard: Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) vs Henry Cejudo 👇
All Tonight’s Scorecards➡️: https://t.co/NwuseKRMCj pic.twitter.com/qcrfi8JVlv
— UFC News (@UFCNews) May 7, 2023
Judge Michael and Derek scored the 2nd round for Henry Cejudo whereas Eric scored it for the reigning champion. While it was a close fight, Aljo was the one that came out on top by the end of it. Not many fighters can boast of a win over an athlete like Henry. With a win like this, Sterling’s stock is only going to go up from here.
Now with three title defenses under his belt, Aljo looks to lock horns with UFC star Sean O’Malley next. Who do you think won the main event battle tonight? Let us know in the comments down below.
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