A Bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo headlined UFC 288. Read below for a recap of the main card.
Kron Gracie Vs. Charles Jourdain
Kron Gracie (5-1), a son of Jiu-Jitsu royalty, opens up the main card in Newark, taking in a featherweight contest against Charles Jourdain (13-6-1).
Round 1
A beautiful combination from Jourdain, landing strikes to the head of Gracie. Jourdain defends a couple of clinches from Gracie, throwing him to the ground.
Gracie eats more shots as Jourdain finds his target with relative ease. They end up on the canvas, and Gracie pulls guard, trying to find a submission. The Canadian finds a way back to his feet.
Round 2
As expected, Gracie wants the fight on the ground and succeeds again, landing in the same position as round one on his back for the first half of the round. Jourdain gets up and continues his success on the feet, landing a couple of big shots.
Round 3
Jourdain loads up; the superiority on the feet continues to be evident. He’s now mixing up his strikes with some body shots.
The fans in attendance grow restless as Gracie takes the fight to the ground once more. Jourdain keeps his hands tight to his head to avoid any submission attempts.
The round ends on the feet. Charles Jourdain wins via unanimous decision (30- 27 x3).
Movsar Evloev Vs Diego Lopes
Stepping in on a few days’ notice to replace the injured Bryce Mitchell, Lopes (21-5) looks to get his twentieth victory inside the octagon against the unbeaten Evloev (16-0) in this featherweight match-up.
Round 1
Lopes lands a big right hand followed by a calf kick. He then lands a big right hand and wobbles his opponent, but Evloev quickly secures a takedown.
Evloev isolates the right harm briefly before Lopes almost gets the submission with an armbar. Lopes causes the most damage, but Evloev spends most of the round in the advanced position on the ground. Tough round to call.
Round 2
Both fighters land on each other to open the round. Lopes looks to be slowing down as Evloev begins to have more success on the feet before he completes a takedown. A couple of hammer fists land from Evloev as he causes much more damage this round.
Round 3
Body shot from Lopes, his opponent returns a head kick before succeeding with the jab – another takedown for Evloev. Out of nowhere, Lopes lands a kimura, but Evloev escapes. Lopes secures a knee bar, but his opponent can handle the pain until the final buzzer. Mosvar Evloev wins via unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27).
Yan Xiaonan Vs Jessica Andrade
The #6 fighting out of Beijing, China, takes on the #4 ranked Brazilian in this Strawweight bout.
Round 1
Xiaonan looks very sharp, mixing up her attacks by combining low kicks with body shots. Andrade starts swinging, eating a couple of shots in the process. Xiaonan drops Andrade with a right hand and follows up with hammer fists. Yan Xiaonan wins via TKO.
Belal Muhammad Vs. Gilbert Burns
A number one contender fight to determine who is next to challenge for the welterweight title. Unbeaten in over four years, Muhammad takes on ‘Durrnho’, who is fresh off a recent victory against Jorge Masvidal.
Round 1
Belal throws a high kick followed by a straight left after an uneventful opening couple of minutes. Burns lands a takedown, eating a knee to the face in the process, but Belal quickly gets back to his feet.
Burns hits the canvas after a left hand by Muhammad.
Round 2
Burns does not like these body kicks. Cormier notes that ‘Durinho’ has dropped his hands as a result. His right arm is red-raw after being on the receiving end of so many left-body kicks. Belal looks the fresher of the two so far.
Round 3
Burns’ team believe his opponent’s left leg is compromised. Hardly a surprise when the opening strike is a leg kick from ‘Durinho’.
Belal continues to control the fight. Burns’ output is lower than usual; he doesn’t seem to be throwing many strikes. Perhaps an injury?
Round 4
Burns told his corner his left arm is compromised. Belal continues to land left-body kicks which Joe Rogan describes as ‘money’. He looks dejected.
Belal eats a right hand but continues to press forward. The injury to Burns’ arm/shoulder seems to worsen as he visibly winces. His opponent notices and begins to target it with kicks. This has become a one-way fight, and it’s hard not to feel empathy towards Burns.
Round 5
The theme of the previous four rounds continues. Belal Muhammad’s grasp on the number one contender status strengthens as the seconds tick.
Refusing to give up, Burns continues to kick and throw right hands, despite having an obvious injury. Resilience personified. Belal Muhammad wins via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46×2).
Aljamain Sterling Vs Henry Cejudo
The wait is over.
Round 1
Sterling is on the offensive to start the fight, primarily with high kicks. Cejudo takes the champion down and controls the half-guard, targeting the neck of the champion.
Sterling takes down the Olympian wrestler! He ends the round strongly.
Round 2
The champ pushes the pace before Cejudo lands a good right hand and then connects with a kick to the head. Spinning elbow from Sterling. He continues to switch stances which makes it difficult for Cejudo to settle—another close round.
Round 3
Flying knee from Cejudo. A takedown attempt by the champion is defended well. Cejudo lands a takedown at the end of the round by tripping his opponent. Sterling struggles to take his opponent down in round three.
Round 4
Sterling takes his corner’s advice and decides to strike more, landing low kicks from range, which are too far away for his opponent to counter. The champion lands a takedown at the perfect time to end the round.
Round 5
If we are going to see a new champion, we need a strong round from Cejudo. It feels as though Sterling knows this and circles a lot to avoid danger. Cejudo lands a big right hand. In every round, whoever is applying the pressure has the most success. We enter the final minute, and Cejudo lands a takedown that could be huge. Either way, it could be 3-2, possibly even a split decision.
Final result: Aljamain Sterling wins via split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)
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