UFC 288 arrives Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, and with it comes the return of one “Triple C,” Henry Cejudo.
The return of Cejudo from a three-year retirement has been in the works for over a year; now, the former flyweight and bantamweight champion, one of only four fighters in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in two weight class, will look to achieve another rare feat: return from an extended layoff and immediately win a championship.
Jon Jones did it, Georges St-Pierre did it, and… well that’s about it. Even Dominick Cruz took a fight between vacating and reclaiming his 135lb title. Which would put Cejudo in lofty company among the UFC greats — especially given Bones and GSP were also two-division champs, albeit not simultaneously.
Of course, the UFC’s current bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, will have something to say about that. “Aljo” has been disrespected from day one as champ, by fans who claimed he was acting after enduring an illegal knee from Petr Yan to claim the title by DQ. That he beat Yan in a rematch is often overlooked, while his title defense against T.J. Dillashaw lacked weight due to Dillashaw showing up with a badly injured shoulder.
There will probably be excuses should he beat Cejudo on Saturday — age, ring rust after all that time off, the lights in the arena were too bright, who knows. But Aljamain Sterling can still silence many, if not all, of his critics with a dominant win over the Olympic gold medal winner.
Our picks are in for UFC 288 — here’s who we see coming out ahead on the main card!
| Writer / Fight | Gracie vs. Jourdain | Evloev vs. Lopes | Andrade vs. Xiaonan | Muhammad vs. Burns | Sterling vs. Cejudo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Behunin (44-27) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Jamie Theodosi (43-28) |  | | | |  |
| Val Dewar (42-29) | | |  | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (41-30) | | | |  | |
| Jay Anderson (35-36) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (32-39) | | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (34-37) | | | | | |
Our staff picks pool is a hotly contested race among the top four writers responding at the moment— and across the board there was just one unanimous pick this week. That is Movsar Evloev, who faces short-notice replacement Diego Lopes in a featherweight fight. Evloev, an undefeated former M-1 champ, should be no surprise as a heavy favorite given Lopes is stepping in with less than a week’s notice.
Jessica Andrade is a strong selection to win in her fight against Yan Xiaonan, however. The same 5-2 split favors Gilbert Burns over Belal Muhammad in the short-notice, five-round co-main event, which will see the winner land a title shot in the welterweight division. It’s 5-2 in favor of Sterling over Cejudo in the main event, meanwhile.
The closest fight on the card per our staff is the featherweight PPV opener between Charles Jourdain and Kron Gracie. It’s 4-3 in favor of Gracie, which amounts to a toss up.
