According to Aljamain Sterling on May 6th at UFC 288, he will defend his Bantamweight Championship against Henry Cejudo. Sterling took to Youtube this morning to reveal his next opponent. The location for the fight is still undisclosed as well as the fact that the UFC hasn't confirmed Sterling's message. Cejudo has also been awfully quiet for someone who usually says "Aljo just needs to sign the contract" regarding his octagon return. Henry never lost his Bantamweight belt which is what is allowing him to skip the current Bantamweight line.
Aljo's professional MMA record is 22-3 and he is currently on an 8-fight win streak. Aljo's last win came against TJ Dillashaw on one shoulder. That's not Aljo's fault though, he handled his business and finished TJ easily. Aljo's most impressive win is his first title defense against Petr Yan. Yan is probably the toughest competitor in the division. Aljo was able to pull off the decision. Henry, on the other hand, hasn't fought in what will be three years. His last fight was a Bantamweight Championship defense against Dom Cruz in May of 2020. Henry's professional record is 16-2 and is technically still on a 5-fight win streak. Aljo mentioned how Henry and himself are similar because they both come from wrestling and grappling backgrounds. Another interesting thing Aljo said was how the "grappling might cancel each other out" and the fight may be determined by their fists. Sterling certainly promoted the fight well in his announcement saying it may look like Usman vs Covington when it was two wrestlers having a very exciting striking match.
UFC 288 has only one confirmed fight on the card as of right now. Bryce Mitchell vs Johnathan Pearce. Mitchell is desperate to get back in the win column after a tough one-sided loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 282. Johnathan Pearce is a young grappler trying to earn a spot in the rankings if he beats the 11th-ranked Featherweight. Basically, every credible source in the game right now besides Ariel Helwani has been reporting Charles Oliviera vs Beneil Dariush is also on for UFC 288 on May 6th. Many are saying the UFC might have Dariush wait for Lightweight Champion, Islam Makachev, which would put Oliviera in an odd position. The only other fight that has been heavily linked to UFC 288 has been Drew Dober vs Paddy Pimblett. Ariel Helwani has said to take that one with a grain of salt. Another potential fight to be on the card is Khamzat vs Robert Whittaker. As we reported about a week ago, Khamzat said he is fighting Robert Whittaker. Bobby Knuckles has said the only time he heard about this was when Khamzat mentioned it in an interview. However, Whittaker did say he would be down to fight Khamzat. With that said, we're just going to leave you with a potential card for UFC 288.
UFC 288 Potential Card
Aljamain Sterling (c) vs Henry Cejudo Bantamweight Championship
Khamzat Chimaev vs Robert Whittaker Middleweight Bout
Charles Oliviera vs Beneil Dariush Lightweight Bout
Paddy Pimblett vs Drew Dober Lightweight Bout
Bryce Mitchell vs Johnathan Pearce Featherweight Bout
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