Aljamain Sterling will defend his UFC bantamweight championship for the third time against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288.
Aljamain Sterling is prominently featured in the promotional art for his upcoming title defense at UFC 288. The “Funk Master” will make his third consecutive defense of the UFC bantamweight championship when he faces the returning Henry Cejudo at the May 6 pay-per-view event, taking place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The newly released poster can be seen on the UFC’s official Twitter account.
Ranked No. 1 at 135 pounds, Sterling is coming off a dominant second-round TKO of T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 this past October, marking his eighth straight victory. In Cejudo, Sterling faces his most decorated challenger yet—an Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler who previously held UFC titles in two divisions before stepping away from MMA competition in 2020. In the co-main event, former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will fight for the first time since losing his title to Islam Makhachev, facing the streaking Beneil Dariush, who has won eight straight fights. Oliveira currently sits at No. 2 in the global rankings at lightweight, with Dariush just behind in a tie at No. 3.
The updated card for UFC 288 includes the following matchups: Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo, Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush, Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain, Jessica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan, Bryce Mitchell vs. Jonathan Pearce, Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Devin Clark, Andre Petroski vs. Armen Petrosyan, Khaos Williams vs. Rolando Bedoya, Marina Rodriguez vs. Virna Jandiroba, Nate Maness vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov, and Daniel Santos vs. Johnny Munoz.