We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC 288 results, including the main event bantamweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and Aljamain Sterling.
Sterling (22-3 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since scoring a TKO victory over TJ Dillashaw in October of last year. That win marked ‘FunkMaster’s’ second defense of his bantamweight belt, as he had previously defeated Petr Yan by split decision after claiming the belt from the Russian via DQ.
Meanwhile, Henry Cejudo (16-2 MMA) will be competing for the first time in over three years this evening. ‘Triple C’, a former flyweight and bantamweight champion, last fought in May of 2020, earning a TKO victory over Dominick Cruz to defend his bantamweight title. The former Olympic Gold medalist announced his retirement after that fight.
HERE. WE. GO.
Our #UFC288 main event starts NOW 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0VAT4wYgfA
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Round one of the UFC 288 headliner begins and Aljamain Sterling comes forward quickly. He lands a kick to the body of the former champ. He attempts a low, but it misses the mark. A flying knee attempt now from the champ. That too misses. Sterling with a left hook. Henry Cejudo gets the clinch and scores an early takedown. ‘Funkmaster’ looks to scramble up but ‘Triple C’ grabs a hold of his neck. Sterling scrambles back to his feet. Cejudo with a low kick. Aljamain answers with kick to the body. The fighters clinch up. Cejudo presses Sterling against the cage. ‘Aljo’ looks for a takedown. Henry goes for the neck. Aljamain breaks free and jumps on a single leg. He scores a trip takedown and instantly jumps on Henry’s back. Cejudo trying to get back up but eats a pair of knees. Another takedown from the champ. He gets on the back of Cejudo. Good knees from the champ. The horn sounds to end round one.
Triple C takes the champ down early in our #UFC288 main event! 👀 pic.twitter.com/v60eqD6L38
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 7, 2023
Big close to the first round for @FunkMasterMMA 👊 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/1TxHvVgLKm
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Round two of the UFC 288 main event begins and Aljamain Sterling is back on the press. He lands a hard kick to the body. Henry Cejudo is really struggling with the range and distance. With that said, he lands a good right and then a low kick. Cejudo with a hard right kick to the body. He lands another, this time a left. ‘Triple C’ shoots but ‘Funkmaster’ defends. Aljamain Sterling with a good left hook. He follows that up with a hard low kick. Henry Cejudo lands a left. So does Sterling. The champ is getting off the better volume early on here. The former champ applying the pressure now. Sterling with a good body shot. He lands a nice low kick. One minute remains in round two. Henry Cejudo with a high kick that partially connects. He lands a good low kick. Sterling goes to the body with a kick. A nice 1-2 from Henry. He is starting to close the distance and land shots now. A big right from ‘Triple C’. Cejudo gets on top to close out the round.
Aljamain Sterling vs Henry Cejudo!
How you scoring our #UFC288 main event so far?! pic.twitter.com/5Dp4UEUf5w
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 7, 2023
Round three of the UFC 288 headliner begins and Henry Cejudo lands a good knee. He forces the clinch and pulls Aljamain Sterling to the ground. ‘Triple C’ cranking on the champ’s neck. He let’s it go and we are back on the feet. Sterling swings and misses with a big left. A nice knee to the body from Cejudo. Sterling looks for a takedown. Henry defends and the fighters begin to battle in the clinch. Sterling drags Cejudo down but the former champ is quickly back up. Aljamain connects with a nice knee. Cejudo breaks free from the clinch and lands a left hand. Aljo shoots for a takedown but Henry sprawls beautifully. He looks to lock up a choke. Henry opts to let that go. Sterling is back up and then dives for another takedown attempt. It is not there. Cejudo with a right. A 1-2 from Aljamain Sterling. He shoots for a takedown, but once again Henry Cejudo defends. A big takedown now from ‘Triple C’. The horn sounds to end round three.
We’re headed to Championship Rounds!! 🏆
Who’s winning on your scorecard? #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/pLf8daJxSp
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Round four of the UFC 288 headliner begins and Aljamain Sterling gets off some hard low kicks to start the round. Henry Cejudo lands one of his own. ‘Funkmaster’ with a hard kick to the body. He follows that up with another low kick. ‘Triple C’ looks to close the distance. ‘Aljo’ is doing a great job with his movement. He lands another hard low kick. Cejudo counters with a good right hand. A big knee connects for the former champ. Sterling with a teap kick up the middle. Cejudo with a right hook and then forces the clinch. Aljamain Sterling shakes him off and circles out. Henry Cejudo continues to try and close the distance. Sterling shoots but the takedown is not there. A good low kick and then a jab from the champ. He lands a hard calf kick. The fighters clinch up and Sterling lands a nice knee to the body. They break and Cejudo attempts to shoot for the takedown. He too fails in his attempt to get the fight to the canvas. Henry with the clinch. He drags Sterling to the ground and looks for a choke. Sterling reverses and looks to drag Henry down. He does. Ten seconds remain. Aljo with some good body shots. Cejudo is back up, but eats a late combination.
Cejudo pushed it to the limit to try to defend the takedown 😨 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/TpuHKcB7JP
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 7, 2023
The fifth and final round begins and Henry Cejudo is looking to close the distance early. He lands a jab to the body. Aljamain Sterling returns fire with another solid calf kick. ‘Triple C’ continues to press but is getting countered by kicks by the champ. Cejudo with a right hand. The crowd chants his name. He’s likely going to need a finish here. Cejudo with a nice left. He gets a hold of a single leg. He lands a left, let’s go of the leg and lands a hard right. A nice low kick from the former champ. Both men are throwing leather in the pocket now. Two minutes remain in the fight. Sterling shoots for a takedown, but Cejudo sprawls and defends. Henry Cejudo with a pair of good knees to the body. He lands another and the fighters clinch up once again. Aljamain Sterling returns fire with one of his own. Cejudo with a big takedown. He takes the back of the champ, but Sterling is now back on his feet. The horn sounds to end the contest.
We go the distance!
Who’s taking the decision on your scorecard?? #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/NUF6K8zmVr
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Official UFC 288 Result: Aljamain Sterling def. Henry Cejudo by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)
Who would you like to see Sterling fight next following his split decision victory over Cejudo this evening in Newark? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
Get all of tonight’s pay-per-view event results here.
