Henry Cejudo is slightly favored against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo on Saturday, May 6 in Newark, New Jersey. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Sterling is 22-3 in his career, while Cejudo is 16-2 in his career. There are a total of 14 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN/ ESPN+, and five on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo. Let’s look at the bout between Sterling and Cejudo and UFC predictions.
UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, May 6 with 14 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN/ ESPN+, and five on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo Betting
Aljamain Sterling (22-3, 14-3 UFC)
Sterling came into the UFC with a record of 8-0 and he has 14 wins and three losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has six wins and no losses. He defeated Jimmie Rivera by unanimous decision, Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision, Cory Sandhagen by rear-naked choke submission, Petr Yan by disqualification, Petr Yan by split decision, and T.J. Dillashaw by TKO. Sterling’s last loss in his career was against Marlon Moraes by KO in December of 2017. Sterling has been a pro since 2011 and he has three wins by TKO/KO and eight by submission. He has four first round finishes.
Sterling said this to sports.yahoo.com about his upcoming fight against Cejudo, “I try to be honest about the assessment. He’s a 125er going up to 135. Yeah, he’s been on the couch for three years. Has he been training the whole time, or just making these funny YouTube videos? So that gives me a lot of confidence. I know that he’s been putting in a lot of serious work, but I don’t know if he’s going to be the Henry Cejudo of three years ago – the same speed, he might be a little slower. His reaction time might be slower, and this isn’t a freestyle wrestling match. This is a fistfight with top and bottom control.”
Henry Cejudo (16-2, 10-2 UFC)
Cejudo came into the UFC with a record of 6-0 and he has 10 wins and two losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has six wins and no losses. He defeated Wilson Reis by TKO, Sergio Pettis by unanimous decision, Demetrious Johnson by split decision, T.J. Dillashaw by TKO, Marlon Moraes by TKO, and Dominick Cruz by TKO. Cejudo’s last loss in his career was against Joseph Benavidez by split decision in December of 2016. Cejudo has been a pro since 2013 and he has eight wins by TKO/KO and eight by decision. He has five first round finishes.
Cejudo said this to mmafighting.com about his upcoming fight against Sterling, “In every sense of the word. Power, speed, experience, grit, technique, just all that. Even the looks. I’m just better in every area than this guy. Aljamain knows I’m the guy out of everybody on the whole roster, whether he wants to say he’s going to put me out in two rounds or I don’t deserve it, I’m letting you babysit my belt. He knows that I’m just the toughest matchup stylistically. I know he knows what I’m capable of doing. This fight doesn’t go past three rounds. I’m not impressed with this dude. I just believe in my skills that much. I’m fundamentally sound and I think that’s where I put all my emphasis. Those small details that everybody tends to overlook. Something as easy as your position.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Sterling 4.70 / Cejudo 3.92
Striking Accuracy: Sterling 51% / Cejudo 45%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Sterling 2.18 / Cejudo 2.77
Defense: Sterling 61% / Cejudo 65%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Sterling 1.98 / Cejudo 2.12
Takedown Accuracy: Sterling 24% / Cejudo 33%
Takedowns defended: Sterling 41% / Cejudo 93%
Submission average: Sterling 0.9/ Cejudo 0.2
VIDEO UFC Picks
Oddsmaker have this fight as a pick and I can’t argue, as I don’t have a strong opinion either way. What we do know is that these two fighters are very tough to finish, so there is a good chance this one goes the distance. I’ll go over the rounds total in this fight.
DATE FIGHTERS MONEY LINE 5/6 Aljamain Sterling -110 Henry Cejudo -120 5/6 Kron Gracie +146 Charles Jourdain -185 5/6 Devin Clark +168 Kennedy Nzechukwu -215 5/6 Rolando Bedoya +231 Khaos Williams -305 5/6 Virna Jandiroba +105 Marina Rodriguez -135 5/6 Parker Porter -175 Braxton Smith +139 5/6 Phil Hawes +179 Ikram Aliskerov -230 5/6 Zhalgas Zhumagulov +150 Rafael Estevam -190 5/6 Joseph Holmes +146 Claudio Ribeiro -185 5/6 Johnny Munoz Jr +139 Daniel Santos -175 5/6 Yan Xiaonan +158 Jessica Andrade -200 5/6 Matt Frevola +179 Drew Dober -230 5/6 Belal Muhammad +107 Gilbert Burns -137
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