UFC 288 live stream results and play-by-play updates: Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo bantamweight championship title fight tops UFC 288’s pay-per-view (PPV) main card TONIGHT (Sat., May 6, 2023) at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., a five-round showdown contested for “Funk Master’s” 135-pound strap. Shortly before that headlining affair, welterweight contenders Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns will collide for the next crack at the 170-pound crown (after Colby Covington) in the five-round UFC 288 co-main event.
UFC 288’s five-fight PPV main card gets underway TONIGHT at 10 p.m. ET beginning with the featherweight fracas between Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom, Kron Gracie, and Canadian bruiser, Charles Jourdain. Get complete UFC 288 PPV main card LIVE results and real-time play-by-play updates below. In addition, we’re also covering the UFC 288 “Prelims” undercard bouts streaming on ESPN and ESPN+ in a separate thread RIGHT HERE, beginning promptly at 6:30 p.m. ET. Bet on UFC 288 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Keep in mind that we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps, and post-fight analysis following “Sterling vs. Cejudo.” Without further delay, see below for the latest UFC 288 main card PPV results. (Note: This will go from the bottom up; therefore, scroll toward 1the bottom for the latest detailed round-by-round action.)
UFC 288 PPV MAIN CARD QUICK RESULTS:
Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo — Sterling def. Cejudo by split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)
Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns — Muhammad def. Burns by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46 x2) — RECAP!
Jessica Andrade vs. Xiaonan Yan — Yan def. Andrade by KO (punch), Rd. 1, 2:20
Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes — Evloev def. Lopes by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain — Jourdain def. Gracie by unanimous decision (30-27×3)
UFC 288 ESPN+ ‘PRELIMS’ QUICK RESULTS:
155 lbs.: Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola — Dober def. Frevola by TKO (punches) at 4:08 of Round One — HIGHLIGHTS!
205 lbs.: Devin Clark vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu — Nzechukwu def. Clark by technical submission (ninja choke) at 2:28 of Round Two — HIGHLIGHTS!
170 lbs.: Rolando Bedoya vs. Khaos Williams — Williams def. Bedoya by split decision (27-30, 29-28 x2)
115 lbs.: Virna Jandiroba vs. Marina Rodriguez — Jandiroba def. Rodriguez by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
265 lbs.: Parker Porter vs. Braxton Smith — Porter def. Smith by TKO (punches) at 2:10 of Round One
185 lbs.: Phil Hawes vs. Ikram Aliskerov — Aliskerov def. Hawes by KO (punch) at 2:10 of Round One — HIGHLIGHTS!
185 lbs.: Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro — Ribeiro def. Holmes by TKO (punches) at 3:21 of Round Two — HIGHLIGHTS!
UFC 288 PPV MAIN CARD LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY:
135 lbs.: UFC Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo
Round 1: Sterling in black, Cejudo in blue. Algo misses a high kick to start the action. Sterling pressing the action early, Cejudo not really throwing much so far. Cejudo catches a body kick, goes to a clinch and takes Sterling down. Half guard with one of Sterling’s legs grapevined between his own. Full guard. Sterling uses his legs to butterfly Cejudo up, which lets him get to his knees. Cejudo grabs the head and he’s heavy on it. Lands one elbow before Sterling gets up. Aljo on the offensive, lands a left, and eats what looks to be a cleaner one. They clinch with two minutes to go. Sterling can’t get a takedown and Cejudo is back to hanging on Sterling’s head. Sterling rotates his hips, gets out of it and now he’s up and hunting a takedown of his own. He gets the trip. Knees Cejudo in the belly and the leg as he’s draped on the back of the former Olympian. Cejudo up all the way, works to break the grip, but gets taken down again. Sterling backpacking Cejudo and is trying to get his hooks in. He can’t and bails on it to land a big left at the bell.
10-9 Sterling in a razor thin round
Round 2: Sterling misses a jump switch kick. Calf kick by Cejudo. Both men attack the body. Cejudo with an enormous head kick that nearly gives Aljo a new haircut. Sterling tries a step in elbow. Question mark kick also misses. Sterling tries a takedown and just gets mushed into the canvas, although he gets back up before Cejudo can get there. Cejudo lands a leg kick. Another. Cejudo on the front foot now. Aljo with a low kick that spins Henry around. Now both men with low kicks. Lots of movement, not a lot of connections. Clinch and a break.
10-9 Cejudo, again, it’s close
Round 3: Sterling kicking repeatedly to open the round. Three, four. A fifth. Jump knee might’ve tagged Sterling on the forehead, but either way he’s on his knees with Cejudo hanging heavy on the head. Cejudo not trying for a front choke, despite having what looks like an opportunity. Finally Henry just backs off and let’s Aljo stand. Sterling tries a shot and is denied. They break, re-clinch and Sterling is working for a trip. Cejudo reverses, Sterling reverses right back. Sterling get a trip, tries to establish hooks, but fails and Henry is up standing, He eats two solid knees for his trouble. Aljo is leaning hard against him on the fence. They’re fighting for leg position to get/avoid trips. Cejudo breaks free. Cejudo stuffs another Sterling shot. Now he’s working a little on a ninja choke. Can’t get it and settles for making Sterling wear his weight a bit before letting him up. They clinch off another stuffed Aljo shot. Cejudo misses a knee, Sterling hits one. Cejudo gets the takedown with 10 seconds to go and both men land a little on the ground.
10-9 Sterling, and not to sound like a broken record, but these are all close rounds so far
Round 4: Sterling back to the kicks to open up. Cejudo gets a couple of them back. Right hand from the former champ. Cejudo manages to corner Aljo for a second and get in a couple good punches before they clinch. Sterling body kick is caught by Cejudo who wings in a left. A jab from Aljo makes Cejudo’s head look like a Pez dispenser. They clinch, but neither man finds an advantage and they separate. Cejudo with a right hand, Aljo with a body kick that again gets caught. Sterling throws an elbow, Cejudo clinches, Sterling wins the position war briefly, but Cejudo with the snapdown and is again in a front headlock position. Aljo squirms to his left and manages to reverse position. He has Cejudo doing the splits, but Henry can’t stay upright with mere seconds to go in the round.
10-9 Cejudo. Yup, it’s close.
Round 5: Cejudo is breathing heavy, but he’s powering through it. Neither man landing anything of significance as we’re 90 seconds through the final round. Cejudo grabs a single, and uses it to land some left hands. Cejudo glances up at the clock. Both men hit right hands. Sterling with a punch and takedown attempt that gets stuffed. Aljo reaches out his hands to try and envelope Cejudo , which lets Henry land a couple knees. Cejudo with a single, switches to an ankle pick, elevates the leg of Sterling and drives him all the way across the cage to secure the takedown. Sterling is up after just a few seconds. He’s eating knees to the legs. Sterling spins into him and is trying to pepper Cejudo as the seconds tick away.
10-9 Cejudo
Final result: Aljamain Sterling defeats Henry Cejudo by split decision
170 lbs.: Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns
Round 1: Burns in yellow, Muhammad in green. Burns with the first connection, a step-in right hand. Muhammad with a nice right hand, but the pace is very, very slow. Muhammad tries a stepping knee, but gets taken down. He is up in less than two seconds. About a minute passes and Belal catches Gilbert off-balance and a punch sends him to the canvas. He, too, is up almost instantly. Question mark kick lands for Muhammad and that also unbalances Burns.
10-9 Muhammad
Round 2: Burns just misses a big right. Again, this round has a very measured pace, as we’re 90 seconds into it and only a couple bits of frenzy here and there have occurred. Burns connects with his right this time. Muhammad with a high kick attempt that misses by a full step. Burns with a low kick, that looks like that may have been checked. Muhammad is in the pocket now and throwing a few punches – nothing clean, but scoring a bit. Body kick lands. Gilbert breaks the range by stepping out and to the left. Not much action to end the round.
10-9 Muhammad
Round 3: Burns goes too low on a kick and hits the twig and berries of Muhammad. Belal was briefly fazed by it, but the break in the action was mere seconds before they touched gloves and went back at it in their very respectful fight. Burns with a calf kick, tries for a trip and can’t get it. Muhammad with some awkward looking strikes from phone booth range, but nothing was serious. Muhammad tries a pair of high kicks, but they hit forearm. Burns with an overhand right that touches the chin. Misses a knee. Muhammad connects on a head kick, but he was moving backwards, so there was no sting on it. Burns’ output is almost nothing here. Not sure if he’s looking for the one-shot knockout, or doesn’t want to gas in a 5-rounder, but he’s not pulling the trigger. Muhammad isn’t throwing or landing much either, but I suspect he’s attempted at least double what Burns has tried.
10-9 Muhammad
Round 4: Burns throws a 4-piece, which backs up Muhammad, but then steps on the brakes. Muhammad back to peppering and poking. He’s not had great success, but even partial connections have Burns bleeding out of his nose/mouth area. Burns tries a knee, Muhammad 1-2. Body kick connects for Burns. Gilbert tries an ankle pick. Good right hand finally lands for Burns. Two minutes left in the round. Burns snatches the lead leg, lets it go to swing. Muhammad pressuring and throwing, but nothing clean. Then again, he doesn’t always have to. There’s a body kick and a right hand also to the breadbasket. Leg kick by Burns. Burns hits a right.
10-9 Burns
Round 5: Both men are picking it up a little, despite neither man getting in clean. Both have used good movement and defense to protect themselves from most of the traffic that has flowed in their direction. Lot of 70% power strikes, too, as neither man is truly committing. hard to really give my normal play-by-play here, because this has been akin to a glorified sparring session. Both men are connecting here and there, but it’s all been very measured and calculated with output that might embarrass heavyweights.
10-9 Muhammad
Final result: Belal Muhammad defeats Gilbert Burns, unanimous decision.
115 lbs.: Jessica Andrade vs. Xiaonan Yan
Round 1: Andrade in green, Yan in red. Andrade thinks about a jumping kick, but decides against it a couple inches off the air. Yan with a nice counter right as Andrade stepped into the pocket. Both women connect with their left hand. Yan again counters nicely off the Andrade aggression. Another good shot. A big overhand right drops Andrade all of a sudden and Yan pounces on her with hammerfists. The ref steps in almost instantaneously and we’ve got the first finish of the PPV!
Final result: Xiaonan Yan defeats Jessica Andrade, KO
145 lbs.: Movsar Evloev vs. Diego Lopes
Round 1: Evloev in black, Lopes in gray. Lopes lands a looping left. Evloev gets a counter right in, but is blasted in an exchange. He punches into a takedown, nearly gets swept in a leg entanglement, but gets out of it and winds up on top in closed guard. Evloev hitting some decent GNP here – body and head. Lopes with a clean elbow, and some not so clean, but keeping Evloev occupied. Good left hammerfists by Evloev. Lopes throws up an armbar attempt out of nowhere and nearly gets it, but Evloev managed to get his knee up to break the grip. Nice right hand by Evloev on top here. Lopes gets his legs up in an armbar attempt that is serving more to keep Evloev from throwing any GNP than it is to finish.
10-9 Lopes in a very close round.
Round 2: Evloev surges forward with a right hand that clips Lopes. Lopes returns fire, eats another of the same overhand right. 1-1-2 from Evloev. Wheel kick from Evloev misses the mark. Evloev is connecting with that right hand nearly every time he throws it. Lopes with a counter left now. He got in another and Evloev didn’t like those chin checks, so he hit a big blast double and took this fight back down to the ground. Nice GNP from Evloev here, body-body-head-body-head-head as Lopes doesn’t respond at all to them. Finally, he pushes Evloev off, but may be too tired to bounce up to his feet. He stays on his back and Evloev is posturing above him and peppering down hard rights.
10-9 Evloev
Round 3: Lopes with a combo. Evloev stalking him around the cage now as Lopes looks to counter. They clinch and Evloev sneaks in a nice right elbow before scooping him up and down. Lopes with some better urgency to get up, but still as an Evloev-shaped backpack around his waist. Evloev tries a scissors trip, can’t get it. Lopes suddenly drops to his back with a kimura attached. He uses it to sweep, but can’t maintain either the position or the submission, and Evloev is back on him with a body lock and a back take. Lopes tries for the same kimura again, but Evloev sniffs it out and is better positioned to stop it. Lopes working on a kneebar now, and it’s pretty tight, but he can’t inflict enough pain to make Evloev tap before the bell.
10-9 Evloev in another very close round.
Final result: Movsar Evloev defeats Diego Lopes, unanimous decision
145 lbs.: Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
Round 1: Kron in gray, Jourdain in black. Feeling out process early as Jourdain looks to stay out of the grappling contest. Charles with a flurry. Gracie gets the clinch and pushes Jourdain up against the cage. Jourdain is able to avoid the trip and disengage. Gracie plods forward, gets shucked off. Jourdain with an uppercut. Now a shovel hook. Gracie unable to implement his gameplan so far, halfway through the round. Finally he pulls guard in center cage. Closed guard. Jourdain keeping his limbs very tight to himself. Gracie tosses a leg up to look for a triangle, but Jourdain is too high up for that to work and he goes back to closed guard. Peppering GNP from Gracie. Jourdain finds an opening and explodes up to his feet. Gracie tries to butt scoot and gets roundly booed for it. Kron’s takedowns are close to nonexistent so far.
10-9 Jourdain
Round 2: Another attempted guard pull from Gracie early on. He gets it after a bit of a struggle. Gracie is up against the cage. Jourdain getting hit with some strikes here, but nothing is major, just annoying. Slow pace as Gracie isn’t even opening his guard to try and sweep or reverse much. Gracie walking forward, but not doing much other than eating punches as he tries to close the distance. Clinch with 40 seconds to go and another guard pull. At least he’s keeping his guard open this time. Never mind, he closes it and just punches from bottom as the round expires.
10-9 Jourdain
Round 3: Jourdain with a right hand, Kron with a jab. Failed guard pull this time. Jourdain to the body. He’s smartly only/ thrown punches, the better to keep upright. Series of rights lands for Jourdain. Gracie gets the guard pull in center cage with a little over 3 minutes left in the fight. Jourdain with some lefts to the body as he minds his P’s and Q’s down there. Kron unable to do anything off his back as Jourdain’s defense is too good. Gracie butt scooting here, as they kick each other’s legs. Jourdain goes body-body-body. Jourdain with a flying knee at the end.
Final result: Charles Jourdain defeats Kron Gracie, unanimous decision
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