UFC 288: Sterling vs Cejudo Results

Sterling did his most effective striking inside, using knees and punches to the body to constantly chip away at Cejudo’s gas tank and tax his endurance, beating Cejudo in positions where the former champion needed to excel. Cejudo pressed throughout the fifth, landing his best shots of the fight, but he never managed to hurt Sterling and the final horn sounded.

Called upon to render a verdict, two of the three judges saw the fight in favor of the champion, who became the first bantamweight titleholder to successfully defend the belt three times. Sterling has now won nine straight and moves to 15-3 in his UFC career. | Official Scorecards 

From the outset, Muhammad was the sharper of the two contenders, taking the fight to Burns while constantly switching stances and battering the Brazilian with kicks to all levels. The Chicago native looked sharp on the feet throughout, stinging Burns with punches, pressuring forward throughout, never allowing the former title challenger to get into a rhythm or land anything of substance.

As effective and pressuring in the fifth as he was in the first, Muhammad made the most of this opportunity to extend his unbeaten run and secure himself a chance to fight for the UFC welterweight title at some point in the future. | Official Scorecards 

Midway through the round, as the Brazilian pressed forward, pawing with wide hooks, Yan fired a right hand down the middle that put Andrade on the deck and sent Yan into celebration mode.

Just an absolutely tremendous performance and massive victory for Yan, who could very well have punched her ticket to a championship opportunity against her countrywoman Zhang Weili later this year. | Official Scorecards 

But after taking the fight on five days notice, Lopes began to tire and Evloev took over, landing big shots from inside his guard in the second.

Lopes showed toughness and tenacity while threatening with multiple submission attempts in the third, but Evloev defended well and had done enough to narrowly escape with the victory and maintain his undefeated record. Full marks to Lopes for his effort on short notice, and kudos to Evloev for working through a dangerous test. | Official Scorecards 

Frevola landed the first clean shot seconds into the fight, and the two stayed after each other from that point forward. Dober started to take command of the fight, pressuring forward and getting a good read on Frevola’s attacks, but a Superman punch snapped his head back and then a right hook to the jaw put him on the deck.

From there, “The Steamrolla” chased him to the canvas and pounded out the biggest stoppage win of his career.

That’s now three straight first-round finishes for Frevola, who moves to 5-3-1 inside the Octagon and 11-3-1 overall. | Official Scorecards 

The Fortis MMA man stayed on the offensive in the second, and when Clark changed levels in search of a takedown, the lanky Nzechukwu locked up a ninja choke, putting Clark to sleep.

This is now three straight wins and three straight finishes for the developing and dangerous Nzechukwu, who has finished each of his last five victories while moving to 12-3 overall. Now 30 years old and nine deep in his UFC career, Nzechukwu should have a number next to his name going forward and merits a step up next time out. | Official Scorecards 

The powerful Williams came out of the gate looking to land his trademark power, but the newcomer Bedoya was more than happy to stand in and respond, smiling as the shots came in and landed. As the fight progressed, Bedoya got more and more comfortable, chopping at Williams’ lead leg and landing more frequently than the UFC veteran.

The judges were tasked with determining the victory and when the nines and tens were tallied, it was Williams who took home the W, getting himself back into the win column and extending his record to 5-2 inside the Octagon. | Official Scorecards 

The former Invicta FC champion put her countrywoman on the canvas in both the first and second, landing damage from top position and keeping Rodriguez’s shoulders pinned to the canvas. Rodriguez had some success on the feet to start the third, but as soon as Jandiroba got a hold of her, the fight went back to the ground and stayed there.

This was a sharp effort and big victory for Jandiroba, who earned a victory over Angela Hill in her lone 2022 appearance, and should vault further up the rankings with this win over Rodriguez. | Official Scorecards 

After avoiding the early power shots fired off by Braxton Smith, Porter stuck a jab in the newcomer’s face, buried a knee into his midsection, and happily went to the ground with Smith as he tried to change levels in a panic. From there, Porter quickly climbed into mount and rained down blows, forcing the stoppage.

Porter looked to be in great shape, moved well, and leaned on his experience to collect his fourth UFC victory and first UFC stoppage win. | Official Scorecards 

Hawes was effective and looked sharp with his standup early, but a high kick seemed to daze the New Jersey native and then Aliskerov turned out the lights.

The Russian newcomer impressed on Dana White’s Contender Series and made a massive statement with a walk-off win over Hawes here. Now 14-1 overall, this is now six straight wins for the emerging Aliskerov. | Official Scorecards 

In the late stages of the first, Ribeiro climbed into mount and rained down blows that had Holmes covering up, with the bell coming before the Brazilian could get “Ugly Man Joe” out of there. Midway through the second, a step-in right hand put Holmes on the defensive against the fence, and Ribeiro never allowed him to recover, pounding out the finish.

This was the first UFC victory for the energetic Dana White’s Contender Series graduate, who lost his debut to Abdul Razak Alhassan, but gets back into the win column here, moving to 11-3 overall while maintaining his 100 percent finishing rate. | Official Scorecards