UFC 288 took place this past weekend from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with Aljamain Sterling defending his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Henry Cejudo in the main event. Read our UFC 288 review below.

Find all the results from UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo here.

The UFC 288 co-main event saw Belal Muhammad secure a dominant unanimous decision victory over a seemingly injured Gilbert Burns. The main card also featured an outstanding performance by Yan Xiaonan, who possibly set up a Chinese mega-fight with UFC Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang.

Several fighters put on impressive performances on the UFC 288 prelims, with the likes of Matt Frevola, Kennedy Nzechukwu, Virna Jandiroba, and Ikram Aliskerov all securing dominant victories.

Read our preview of UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo below.

Sterling Reigns Supreme at UFC 288

Aljamain Sterling secured the biggest win of his career at UFC 288, defeating Henry Cejudo via split decision. In a tightly contested bout, the two men went back and forth, with neither man gaining control for extended periods. Despite being a split decision, Sterling deservedly was crowned the victor.

While Cejudo found success both with his wrestling and on the feet, Sterling seemed slightly ahead, especially on the feet, where his activity likely won him the fight. In what has been a controversial and criticised Championship reign, Sterling adds another former UFC Champion to his resume after previously defending the belt against T.J. Dillashaw.

Not only does he now boast a victory over one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time in Henry Cejudo, Sterling now has his name plastered all over the record books, with the most successive UFC Bantamweight Championship title defences, most wins, control time and longest winning streak in UFC Bantamweight division history. A resume that will age like fine wine and puts Sterling amongst the best Bantamweights ever.

Following the fight, Sean O’Malley entered the Octagon to face off with Sterling, who barely got the chance to celebrate his victory before coming to near blows with the man pegged by the UFC to be his next challenger. However, in a perfect metaphor for the Bantamweight division, Merab Dvalishvili stole the show, stealing O’Malley’s extravagant jacket and climbing the Octagon.

Cejudo was allowed to speak following the fight and seemed uncertain about his future. Well aware that the decision could have gone either way, Cejudo did not make any extreme claims but did leave the door open to return to the UFC Octagon again. There is not much left for him in the Bantamweight division, but moving up to Featherweight and facing Max Holloway is a somewhat logical challenge.

Belal Muhammad Cashes in on Title Shot

In the UFC 288 co-main event, Belal Muhammad put on another impressive striking display to cash in on his opportunity to secure a UFC Welterweight Championship shot against the winner between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, who are set to fight later this year.

Coming into the fight, much of the discussion was surrounding Muhammad’s weight cut and apparent ankle injury during fight week. However, once the fight was underway, Muhammad looked to be in incredible shape, and instead, Burns was the one who was not 100%.

Looking to secure a takedown in the first round, Burns landed awkwardly on his left shoulder and was mentally out of the contest from that moment on. While unable to use his left arm for striking or grappling, Burns was discouraged and visibly upset. The rest of the fight played out on the feet, with Muhammad too much for Burns.

Dana White has confirmed that Muhammad will get his long-awaited title shot following the planned fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. However, Dana has struggled to make that fight, leaving Muhammad possibly on the sideline until 2024. On the other hand, Burns likely should take some time off after his third fight of the year and may need to due to the shoulder injury.

Find all the results from UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo here.

The Rest of an Interesting UFC 288 Main Card

The standout performance from the UFC 288 main card was from Yan Xiaonan, who scored the biggest win of her career with a first-round knockout of former UFC Strawweight Champion Jessica Andrade.

Xiaonan looked fantastic on the feet, landing early and often on the usually aggressive Andrade. Following several hooks from Andrade, Xiaonan landed a perfect counter shot to put Andrade out and likely earn herself a title shot against fellow Chinese superstar and UFC Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang in what would be a massive fight for the UFC to bring to China.

In his UFC debut, Diego Lopes made an impressive account of himself in a fight he took on one week’s notice against the undefeated #10 ranked UFC Featherweight Movsar Evloev. While Evloev emerged victorious and remained undefeated, Lopes threatened with several submissions that were seconds away from ending the fight. Both men have bright futures in the sport.

The UFC 288 PPV opener saw a lacklustre affair between the returning Kron Gracie and Canadian striker Charles Jourdain, who secured a dominant unanimous decision victory. Gracie came into his first bout in four years with a reported terrible backstage attitude and an MMA style that will not hang in the modern age. Jourdain used his striking perfectly to dismantle Gracie’s submission-only approach. Hopefully, he gets his request to face Edson Barboza next.

Find all the results from UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo here.