Aljamain Sterling Retains UFC Bantamweight Title with Split Decision Win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 288
Aljamain Sterling successfully defended his UFC bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday night, defeating Henry Cejudo by split decision.
Sterling secured the victory with judges scoring the bout 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 in his favor after a closely contested fight that saw both fighters give it their all. Cejudo, a former two-division champion and favorite to win, returned to the octagon after a three-year hiatus.
Speaking after the fight, Sterling said, "I wasn't sure which way the decision was gonna go. I wish I could have done a little bit better but Henry's a [expletive] dog, he's a legend and it's no easy task to run through him like I did everybody else."
With the win, Sterling improved his record to 23-3 while Cejudo's record fell to 16-2.
Throughout the fight, Sterling landed more total strikes than Cejudo, with a tally of 174-110, including a 110-63 advantage in signature strikes.
Sterling won the 135-pound title by disqualification in a bout he was losing to Petr Yan in 2021, and then won a rematch via split decision a year later to solidify his claim to the crown.
Following the bout, bantamweight challenger Sean O'Malley confronted Sterling in the octagon, and the two fighters exchanged heated words before being separated. They may face off later this summer, with UFC President Dana White keen to have them fight in August in Boston.
For Cejudo, who is the only person to win an Olympic gold medal and a UFC title, the loss may spell the end of his fighting career. He vacated both his bantamweight and flyweight titles when he retired in 2020, and after the fight, he said he was "a little confused" about his future plans and would take time to think things over.
Despite the outcome, Cejudo was wildly cheered on by the 17,559 fans in attendance, who witnessed Sterling successfully defend his bantamweight championship for a record third time.
In the 170-pound five-round fight, Belal Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC) secured a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns, landing several powerful kicks to Burns's upper body. The crowd expressed their displeasure at the lack of sustained action during the fight, which was further compounded by Burns injuring his left shoulder during a takedown attempt and being unable to generate much offense.
Muhammad's win, however, established him as a top contender for a title shot against Leon Edwards, extending his winning streak to five and unbeaten streak to 10 straight fights. Muhammad was met with boos from the crowd upon his announcement as the 50-45, 49-46, 49-46 winner, and he responded with "New Jersey, you suck."
In other fights on the card, Movsar Evloev won by unanimous decision over Diego Lopes, who had accepted the fight on just five days' notice after an injury forced Bryce Mitchell to drop out. Yan Xiaonan delivered a powerful right to former UFC strawweight champion Jéssica Andrade and secured a TKO victory at 2:20 of the first round, potentially setting up a 115-pound championship match against fellow Chinese fighter Zhang Weili.
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