| UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | May 6, 2023 (2023-05-06) | |||
| Venue | Prudential Center | |||
| City | Newark, New Jersey, United States | |||
| Attendance | 17,559 | |||
| Total gate | $5,182,210.36 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 6, 2023, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Background
The event marked the promotion's ninth visit to Newark and first since UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler in August 2019.
A UFC Bantamweight Championship bout between current champion Aljamain Sterling and former UFC Flyweight and Bantamweight Champion Henry Cejudo headlined the event.
Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Nate Maness were expected to meet in a flyweight bout at the event. However, Maness pulled out in early April due to injury and was replaced by Rafael Estevam, who was originally scheduled to fight two weeks earlier at UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes before an injury also took his opponent. In turn, the bout was scratched the day before the event due to Estevam having weight management issues.
A featherweight bout between Bryce Mitchell and Jonathan Pearce was scheduled for the event. However, Pearce was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury. He was replaced by Movsar Evloev. Mitchell and Evloev were previously scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos in November 2022, but Evloev withdrew due to injury. In turn, Mitchell withdrew on the week of the event for an undisclosed shoulder injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Diego Lopes.
A lightweight bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush was expected to take place as the co-main event. However, Oliveira withdrew due to an undisclosed injury. The fight was later rescheduled and moved to UFC 289.
Former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad competed in a five-round welterweight bout in the co-main event.
A bantamweight bout between Daniel Santos and Johnny Muñoz Jr. was expected to take place at the event, but it was scratched after Santos withdrew due to an undisclosed injury.
At the weigh-ins, Joseph Holmes weighed in at 189 pounds, three pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit. His bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20% of his purse which went to his opponent Claudio Ribeiro.
Results
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Bantamweight | Aljamain Sterling (c) | def. | Henry Cejudo | Decision (split) (47–48, 48–47, 48–47) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Belal Muhammad | def. | Gilbert Burns | Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 49–46, 49–46) | 5 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Yan Xiaonan | def. | Jéssica Andrade | KO (punches) | 1 | 2:20 | |
| Featherweight | Movsar Evloev | def. | Diego Lopes | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Featherweight | Charles Jourdain | def. | Kron Gracie | Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary card (ESPN / ESPN+) | |||||||
| Lightweight | Matt Frevola | def. | Drew Dober | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:08 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Kennedy Nzechukwu | def. | Devin Clark | Technical Submission (guillotine choke) | 2 | 2:28 | |
| Welterweight | Khaos Williams | def. | Rolando Bedoya | Decision (split) (27–30, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Virna Jandiroba | def. | Marina Rodriguez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Parker Porter | def. | Braxton Smith | TKO (punches) | 1 | 2:10 | |
| Middleweight | Ikram Aliskerov | def. | Phil Hawes | KO (punches) | 1 | 2:10 | |
| Catchweight (189 lb) | Claudio Ribeiro | def. | Joseph Holmes | TKO (punches) | 2 | 3:21 | |
- For the UFC Bantamweight Championship.
Bonus awards
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.
- Fight of the Night: Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
- Performance of the Night: Yan Xiaonan and Matt Frevola
Aftermath
On June 27, it was announced by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that Braxton Smith was suspended for two years after a urine sample he submitted tested positive for exogenous administration of testosterone and its precursors in two out-of-competition tests on April 19 and May 4, and one in-competition test May 6.
See also
References
- ^ Mike Bohn (2023-05-07). "UFC 288 post-event facts: Aljamain Sterling takes sole possession of 135-pound wins record". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- ^ Vipin Raghuwanshi (2023-03-03). "Reported location for UFC 288, PPV heading back to Newark". itnwwe.com. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
- Dan Hiergesell (2023-03-10). "Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo official for UFC 288 on May 6 in New Jersey". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- Harvey Leonard (2023-03-11). "UFC matchmaking bulletin (3/6-3/11): featherweight returns for first fight since 2019". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- Nolan King and Farah Hannoun (2023-04-10). "Rafael Estevam loses UFC Fight Night 222 opponent, now meets Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC 288". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- Mike Heck (2023-05-05). "Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Rafael Estevam scrapped from UFC 288". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- Alex Behunin (2023-02-12). "Bryce Mitchell vs. Jonathan Pearce booked for UFC 288 on May 6". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
- Nolan King (2023-04-13). "Injury forces Jonathan Pearce out of UFC 288 bout vs. Bryce Mitchell". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- Nolan King (2023-04-15). "Movsar Evloev steps in to fight Bryce Mitchell at UFC 288 in Newark". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- Damon Martin (2022-10-13). "Movsar Evloev out of upcoming main event fight against Bryce Mitchell on Nov. 5". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- Alexander K. Lee (2023-05-02). "Bryce Mitchell out of UFC 288, Diego Lopes steps in to fight Movsar Evloev". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- Tim Bissell (2023-02-21). "Charles Oliveira to fight Beneil Dariush at UFC 288". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
- Mike Bohn (2023-04-14). "Report: Charles Oliveira injured, out of UFC 288; Beneil Dariush fight postponed". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- Mike Bohn (2023-04-20). "Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush rescheduled for UFC 289 in Vancouver". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
- Mike Bohn (2023-04-20). "UFC 288 adds Gilbert Burns vs. Belal Muhammad as short notice five-round co-headliner". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
- Nolan King (2023-02-06). "Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 30-Feb. 5)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- Jay Anderson (2023-05-04). "Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Munoz Jr. scratched from UFC 288 due to injury". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- Staff (2023-05-05). "UFC 288 weigh-in results: One fight scrapped, one fighter heavy, but main event title fight official". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- "UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- Dan Hiergesell (2023-05-07). "UFC 288 bonuses: Matt Frevola leads $50K winners with violent TKO". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
- Nolan King (2023-06-27). "UFC heavyweight Braxton Smith suspended for exogenous testosterone administration". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
