The upcoming UFC 288 event features Aljamain Sterling defending his Bantamweight Championship title against Henry Cejudo who is in his first fight coming out of retirement. Cejudo has not fought for three years, yet he is the favorite for this fight. He’s the former Flyweight Champion and Bantamweight Champion, which are titles he held simultaneously.
Sterling is the first fighter to win a championship by disqualification, but he is also the former Bantamweight Champion of the Cage Fury Fighting Championship. He’s 5 ft 7 in, 135 lbs, and was born on July 31, 1989. Cejudo is only 5 ft 4 in, a stocky 135 lbs, and was born February 9, 1987.
Cejudo has only had 18 fights with only two losses. But of his 16 wins, half of them (eight) were by knockout. Sterling has had 25 fights with 22 wins, with only three by knockout. Both have one knockout loss.
Fight Card, UFC 288 – May 6, 2023.
Main Card
Weight class
Bantamweight Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo
Welterweight Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns
Women’s Strawweight Jéssica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan
Featherweight Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
Featherweight Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
Preliminary card (ESPN/ESPN+
Lightweight Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
Light Heavyweight Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark
Welterweight Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya
Women’s Strawweight Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba
Early preliminary card (ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass)
Heavyweight Braxton Smith vs. Parker Porter
Middleweight Phil Hawes vs. Ikram Aliskerov
Flyweight Rafael Estevam vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
Middleweight Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro
Bantamweight Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Muñoz Jr.
Welterweight Muhammad vs. Burns
In the Welterweight category, Belal Muhammad is taking on Gilbert Burns. Muhammad currently ranks as #4 in his weight class for the UFC. Burns is a Brazillian mixed martial artist and submission grappler. He is a three-time World Champion grappler and also a World Cup gold medalist. He is also the favorite for this fight.
Both weigh 170 lbs, which is the upper end of the Welterweight division (156 to 170 lbs), and both are 5 ft, 10 in. Muhammad has a slight advantage in reach with 72 inches versus Burns’ 71 inches. Muhamad has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, while Burns is a 3rd-degree black belt.
Muhammad’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 5 wins, 1 loss
Submission 1 win, 0 losses
Decision 16 wins, 2 losses
Gilbert’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 6 wins, 2 losses
Submission 9 wins, 0 losses
Decision 7 wins, 3 losses
UFC 288 – Women’s Strawweight Andrade vs. Xiaonan
The Main Card women’s fight is in the Strawweight category between Jéssica Andrade and Yan Xiaonan. Andrade is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist with a lot of fights under her belt. At only 5 ft 1 in, she has won 24 of her 34 fights, nine by KO/TKO. I guess it helps that her reach is 62 inches and she weighs 124 lbs. She holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Xiaonan is 5 ft, 5 in, with a reach of 63 inches but only weighs 115 lbs. She holds a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu but originally trained in Sanda, which is also known as Chinese Kickboxing. She is the first Chinese female fighter signed by the UFC, making her debut in 2017.
Andrade’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 9 wins, 4 losses
Submission 8 wins, 3 losses
Decision 7 wins, 3 losses
Xiaonan’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 6 wins, 1 loss
Submission 1 win, 1 loss
Decision 9 wins, 1 loss
Featherweight Evloev vs. Lopes
A recent addition to the main card is the undefeated Movsar Evloev taking on Diego Lopes. Evloev from Russia, began fighting professionally as a Bantamweight in 2014 but moved to Featherweight in 2019. He is 5 ft, 7 in, 146 lbs, with a reach of 72.5 in.
Lopes hails from Brazil and is a much taller 5 ft, 11 in, 145 lbs, but his reach is only 72 in. Evloev gets most of his wins by decision, while Lopez usually wins by submission, but he also wins a lot by KO/TKO.
Evloev’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 3 wins, 0 losses
Submission 4 wins, 0 losses
Decision 9 wins, 0 losses
Lopes’ MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 8 wins, 2 losses
Submission 11 wins, 0 losses
Decision 2 wins, 3 losses
UFC 288 – Featherweight Gracie vs. Jourdain
Kron Gracie is part of the Gracie family that founded and developed Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which is also known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His grandfather Hélio Gracie co-founded Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. At 5 ft 9 in, 145 lbs, and a reach of 70 in, he has only had six fights since signing up with the UFC in 2018 winning 5 of them by submission. That sounds like the best bet to make in the main card.
Charles Jourdain is from Quebec, Canada, and is also 5 ft 9 in, 145 lbs, but his reach is 69 in. He debuted with the UFC in 2019 but has had 20 MMA fights since 2016. The bulk of his wins are by KO/TKO.
Gracie’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 0 wins, 0 losses
Submission 5 wins, 0 losses
Decision 0 wins, 1 loss
Jourdain’s MMA fight statistics:
KO/TKO 8 wins, 0 losses
Submission 4 wins, 1 loss
Decision 1 win, 5 losses
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